La Forza D'Amore
by AnotherBrokenBottle
Summary: Ashling and Alyssa Connelly, two Italian twins, have transferred into Hogwarts. Another ridiculously old RP, co-written with dreamgazer220.


**La Forza D'Amore**

**Chapter 1  
**

"Good evening, everyone. I am pleased to announce that in precisely fourteen days, our school will be holding its first annual Masquerade Ball. All fifth through seventh years are invited under the condition that at this dance, you shall dance with and only with members of a house other than your own." Dumbledore paused and peered over his half-moon spectacles. "For those of you not aware," he resumed, "a masquerade ball is, in essence, a ball of masks. Each student will wear a mask, to cover his or her face, with robes of their house colors. The girls may begin worrying about what to wear now," he finished with a sly smile.

Ashling glanced at her twin, Alyssa, across the Ravenclaw dining table. "Che divertente!" exclaimed Ashling, only to see Alyssa roll her eyes.

"Ma como divertente, è che stupido."

"I wish I could speak Italian," sighed Cho.

"You always say that," said Ashling an Alyssa in unison with a touch of an Italian accent.

"Ash, pass the marmalade," yawned Alyssa as she stretched.

"Wake up, Lisa," she replied sharply. "We have an exam in Herbology this morning."

"I still have to get dressed," she protested.

"Well, I'll come with you, I need to check my hair." Everyone stood at the sound of the bell and made their way towards the Great Hall exit. As they were making their way through the crowd, Lisa saw a boy with jet-black hair and a scar push a tall red-headed boy jokingly in Ash's direction.

"Watch out," Lisa remarked, but the boy had already stumbled into Ashling, causing the books to spill from her arms.

"Sorry," he mumbled apologetically. The black-haired boy coughed loudly. "Let me help you," said the redhead quickly, turning a brighter shade of red than his crimson hair. Ashling pushed her straight chestnut hair away from her face and started gathering her books.

"I'll meet you in Greenhouse 3," said Lisa impatiently and left.

"I'm Ron Weasley," said the redhead as he handed Ash her Potions textbook.

"I'm Ashling Connolly." Her hazel eyes twinkled. "But you can call me Ash," she said as she stood up gracefully.

**Chapter 2  
**

Lisa was dragging herself down the hallway when she heard her name.

"…Merlin, now we've got even more mudbloods, like those Connollys. And by the looks of it," he scanned Lisa, "their muggle mum can't even conjure up some light. Do you always get dressed in the dark, Connolly?" The platinum-blond, gray-eyed boy sneered as the statuesque figures behind him laughed heartily.

Lisa slowly placed her bag on the floor and rolled up her sleeves. She calmly walked over to the boy and shoved him forcefully against the wall. She whipped out her wand. "Want to run that one by me again, _Draco_?" she drawled.

"Go back to France, Alyssa," he chuckled with a straight face.

"I'm from Italia, pazzo," she snarled.

"Well, you're in Britain now, so here's some advice: Try English," he said with a laugh.

Lisa glared at him with an intensity worth a million fires and waved her wand threateningly in his face. "Here's some advice for you, Malfoy," she hissed, slamming him up against the wall again. "Stay away from me if you want to keep walking."

"How amusing. A mudblood threatens a Malfoy. However, it just so happens that I will leave you alone... for now. After all," he smiled painfully, "I wouldn't want fingers pointed at me if you got hurt. Your darling father would whisk me off to Azkaban..." He loosened himself from her grip and turned on his heel.

"He wouldn't," she called after him. "I would."

"You're all talk, Connolly," he shouted without turning around, just as he turned the corner.

"Like you aren't," she shouted back, although she knew it was too late and he already was out of ear-shot. Lisa, now feeling wide awake and energetic, picked up her bag and sprinted all the way up to the Ravenclaw tower, quickly changed into her uniform, and ran back down to Greenhouse 3 just before the bell rang. "Not late!" she exclaimed, coming through the door.

Ash rolled her eyes. "Lisa, you almost spend as much time getting dressed as I do."

Lisa grinned at her and sat down next to her. "At least I run fast. Bloody Malfoy nearly made me late..."

"Malfoy? As in Lucius Malfoy's son?" Ashling grew concerned.

She rolled his eyes. "Yeah. Him. Arrogant prick... he was making some remark about us so I slammed him against the wall..."

"Gave him the Alyssa talk-to?" she joked.

"Yup. I mean, we haven't really... spoken much. So I thought I'd introduce myself."

"Good. So he's not confused as to what you're relationship is or anything." She smiled and looked at the test just handed to her by Professor Sprout.

"Nope. I don't think he'll be confused anymore," she agreed, resting her head on her arms. Herbology almost made her fall asleep all the time.

"Take notes," Ash hissed at her. "This will be on our final."

**Chapter 3**

The bell rang. It was finally time for lunch. They walked together to the Great Hall. Lisa slung her arm around her sister's shoulders. "So. You and that redhaired bloke. When are you getting married?" she teased her.

Ash's cheeks turned rosy. "We're not getting married. He just introduced himself... it was the least he could do after he almost killed me."

Lisa rolled her eyes. "So dramatic... so he introduced himself. And you're blushing. Thus concluding that you like him. Meaning you've been fantizing about marrying him all morning. Tell me I'm lying." She knew her sister well.

"Well...not 'marrying', per say..." she turned crimson. "Just him telling me that he'd like to maybe take me somewhere sometime, then he's my ragazzo, then we get married."

"Thus I'm still right," Lisa replied, grinning like mad.

Ash fake-punched her twin as they entered the Great Hall. Lisa rolled her eyes. "Oh, please." She glanced around. "Hey, look. There's loverboy now!" Lisa exclaimed, seeing the redhaired boy her sister had been talking to this morning.

"Loverboy has a name. And it's Ron," she sighed.

"So you admit that he is your loverboy!"

"No! I--you----UGH!!" she quickened her pace, parting from her sister's side.

Once at the Ravenclaw table, Ash took a seat next to Cho. Lisa smirked and sat right next to her. "Don't you think you're rushing things a bit, Ash? I mean, you met him this morning. I don't think he's going to propose to you yet." Ashling stabbed her bread with her fork.

Lisa snickered to herself and began eating, her eyes wandering over to the table decked in green and silver. Draco bloody Malfoy was right in her line of vision. Bloody brilliant.

Ash turned around so that Ron was in _her_ line of vision.

She rolled her eyes and sighed. "I'm not so hungry anymore. I think I'm going to take a run around the Quidditch Pitch before classes resume..."

"Well, I might as well come with you. I'm not hungry," she mumbled.

"Why not? I thought you'd want to stay and stare at Ronniekins."

Ash gave Lisa a disapproving look, then glanced at her neighbors and said gracefully, "May I be excused?" Cho nodded with a wide smile and Ash rose.

Lisa stood up, and with one last glare at Malfoy, she strutted out of the Great Hall, feeling angry. Ash followed her distractedly, exchanging smiles with Ron.

As soon as she got out, breathing in the fresh November air, she took off, not wanting to wait for Ash. She needed to clear her head -- all morning Malfoy had plagued her thoughts, and she wasn't sure why. They'd encountered each other briefly before, but this was really their first "meeting".

Ash got to the Quidditch Pitch and sat in the stands after seeing her sister running laps. She began her Potions essay while thinking painfully that she only had a week left to do it.

**Chapter 4**

"Okay, we have three weeks to train for our next match, but I think that's plenty of time to get you all ready," Cho told her team confidently. "We had a stroke of good luck with our last match, with both a beater and a chaser out from Hufflepuff, but it was also a good learning experience. We now know that the odds of that happening again are very, very slim." She paused. "Let's go practice!"

"Lisa," shouted Ash, "I forgot my broom in the common room, you wanna come with me to get it?"

"Sure," Lisa replied, diving down fast to the ground, slinging her own broom over her shoulder.

"Race you," she suggested, but ran off towards the school before giving her sister a chance to reply. Lisa rolled her eyes and picked up the pace, soon catching up towards her sister.

Ash and Lisa were running side by side, trying to trip each other. They ran through the gate and sharply turned a corner, only to bump into the black-haired boy that pushed Ron into Ash that morning.

"You! That was awfully nice of you this morning," said Ashling sarcastically.

The blackhaired boy blushed sheepishly. "Sorry about that -- we were just joking around. He was making fun of me and so I just -- you know, pushed him -- stupid, really, I guess. Sorry. But at least now he'll know the name of the girl he keeps staring at every morning, afternoon, and evening," the boy babbled. "I'm Harry, by the way."

"Harry Potter?" Lisa asked, just to clarify.

He nodded. "Yeah. Is that a problem?"

"No, sorry... it's just... you're well... you..."

Ashling seemed to be unaware of the conversation. "Morning, afternoon and evening, you say? Ah, che bello..." She smiled widely and daydreamed.

"Thanks, Potter. Now you've just made it worse!" Lisa exclaimed sarcastically, rolling her eyes. "I guess I should introduce myself, um, yeah. That'd be a good idea. I'm Alyssa Connolly, but only call me that if you want me to kill you."

"So then what would you like me to call you?" Harry asked, grinning slightly.

"Lisa. Aly. Al. Anything but Alyssa."

Harry nodded. "Fair enough."

Ash had taken a small notebook out of her bag and was scribbling furiously. She flipped back a couple pages and extended her hand. "Call me Ash," she said with a very quick glance at him, continuing to scribble notes.

"What the ruddy hell are you taking notes on now?" Lisa demanded, noticing her sister's furious scribbling.

"Non si deve parlare davanti del studento," she hushed. "It's--just--notes," she said a bit louder.

Lisa rolled her eyes. "By the way, we can speak fluent Italian... she just likes to do it more than I do."

Harry nodded again. "That'd be a useful tip."

"Maleducata," Lisa whispered at Ash.

Ash slipped the notebook into her bag. She asked casually, "so...where's your next class, Harry?"

"Defense Against the Dark Arts. You?"

"Oh, we have Quidditch practice now. I'm going to get my broom, and I'd better hurry or Cho will kill us."

"Yeah, you know she will..." Lisa replied, rolling her eyes. Despite her sister's odd friendship with the girl, Lisa couldn't find anything remotely interesting about Cho Chang since they had started Hogwarts in September. Now, Draco, I'm sure, has an interesting story to tell, she thought. Then, realizing who her thoughts were about, she scolded herself. "Damn it... stop thinking about him!"

"I know. I'm just SO irressistable," Harry commented. They had just met two minutes ago and he could already see a fond friendship growing with both girls, particularly Lisa.

"I just can't take my eyes off of you, Harry," Lisa agreed. "You're just so handsome. I can't stand it."

Harry smirked and rolled his eyes. Ashling coughed quietly.

"Yes, dear sister?" Lisa asked, batting her eyelashes.

"Umm...Quidditch..." Ash said nervously.

"Right..."

"It was nice to meet you Harry," Ash said as she shook his hand. "I guess I'll see you and your friend Ron around." She smiled at him as she pulled on Lisa's arm and started for the Ravenclaw common room.

"But---but---I WANTED TO MAKE HIM LATE TO DEFENSE AGAINST THE DARK ARTS!" she protested. "WE HAVE A LOT TO DISCUSS!" Like setting up you and Ron. Because I'm amazing. And it's obvious. And Harry can help.

"WHAT the ruddy hell do we have to discuss?!" Harry shouted.

"Things!!" Lisa shouted, mouthing, Like Ash and Ron. Harry nodded in understanding.

Ash, confused, said quickly "Well you go ahead and be late for life!!" She sighed exasperatedly and left in a hurry. She stopped in her tracks, turned around, walked back up to Lisa and took her broom. "I guess you're not using it so I will!" She sprinted for the front hall.

"So, my dear new friend who I love so much," Lisa began, hooking arms with him.

"It's whom, dear. Your sister, she can can get a bit moody, eh?" He smirked.

She shrugged hopelessly. "Yeah, I suppose so."

"Well, no one's perfect I suppose. So...now that I'm hopelessly late for Defense Against the Dark Arts, would you care telling me if you have somewhat of a plan?"

"Nope!" she exclaimed. "But cut class. You know you waaaaant to."

"Not really. Unless there's a point," she said flatly.

"Dude. Okay. Potter, listen. I know how important Defense Against the Dark Arts is and everything, because I want to be an Auror, and...." she broke off.

"Well, blimey, if we're setting Snape's potions cupboard on fire then sure, I'll cut class, but if we'll just be standing around cutting, then I'm not so sure," he continued.

Lisa grinned. "There's an idea...Come on!" she exclaimed, taking his hand and running through the corridors.

Harry sprinted to keep up. "I was joking!" he shouted ahead at her. "How do we expect to become Aurors if we get expelled? Catching Dark wizards is no good with a wand that's been snapped in half," he asserted.

"We? Since when is it that WE want to become Aurors?" Lisa asked, running peacefully next to him while he tried his best to keep up. "Not in too good shape, are we, Potter?" she smirked.

"Ahh, but what's being in shape next to knowing your stuff? It's what's up here that counts," he said, pointing to his temple.

"Potter, I'm friggen brilliant," she replied. "You just met me, remember?"

"First impressions are everything these days, dear Lisa." He tripped on a quill in the middle of the hallway and almost pulled Lisa down with him.

He laughed nervously and stood up. "You're not seriously considering setting Snape's potions cupboard on fire, are you?"

She smirked. "Of course I am. And don't worry your pretty little head about getting expelled, Potter. Because it won't be us he's catching..." she replied, a plan formulating in her head as she spoke. "You know where Malfoy is right now?"

"Yeah, Transfiguration. Why?" He didn't like where this was heading.

"Wonderful. That's not too far from here, right?" she questioned.

"It's just down this corridor, although I still don't see where you're going with this," he said haltingly. "Is this why you made me cut class?"

She grinned at him. "Good. Now, let's go to Snape's office... and then we need to come down here... and well... you'll see from there."

"Umm...okay. So..." he stopped in his tracks to catch his breath. "Are all girls serial arsonists where you come from?"

She smirked at the fact that he had to catch his breath. "Does it attract you, Potter?"

"Oh, yeah. You're all I could hope for in a girl," he sneered.

"That's what I thought," Lisa grinned again. "Now I'm not quite sure how this is going to work... but come on, let's go."

"Wha--what?" He looked around desperately, and said firmly, "I assumed you had a plan, Connolly!" A voice from a nearby painting said, "Well, really."

"That's what happens when you assume things, Potter," she replied happily. "I need you to do me a favor. I'm going to go get Malfoy. You go down to Snape's office and say that someone wants to talk to him upstairs, and you walk him down. In this time, I will have had enough time to bring Malfoy back from the other direction, making it look like he's coming out of his office, and well, you know. Set his cupboards on fire." Lisa glanced over at Harry. "Got all that? Need to write any of it down?"

Harry stared at her dumbfounded.

"Oh. Okay, then," he said calmly. "And where am I leading Snape?"

"Just out to the dungeons. Because by that time, Malfoy should have arrived."

Harry mumbled to himself, then looked at Lisa. "Why are you doing this?"

She shrugged. "You suggested it. Sounded like fun to me. Why?"

"I didn't suggest it. I made a JOKE, Lisa. JOKES are not to be taken LITERALLY. Now, there must be a reason for anger between you and Malfoy if you're risking his expulsion."

"What's it to you?" she questioned.

"Don't get me wrong, I'm all for it. I'm just saying...you want to avoid getting on his bad side if you can."

Lisa laughed. "I don't care about getting on his bad side, Potter. I'm already on his bad side."

"Well, Merlin's beard! Why on earth are you?!" he demanded.

"Because," she said as though it were obvious. "My last name is Connolly."

"Fine. Maybe if you Italians weren't so damn cryptic, I'd be more help, but that's okay..." He stopped and thought for a second. "You're not that bad, Connolly. Good luck." He gave her a friendly hug and ran for Snape's.

Lisa rolled her eyes and knocked lightly on the Transfiguration room door, screwing her face up so it looked disasterous. "P--Professor M--M--McGonagall?"

"Yes, dear?" she replied, her faint of a smile diminishing at Lisa's face. "Is there something wrong?"

"I... I... need to speak to... D--Draco M--Malfoy, p-please. It's... it's really... i--important," Lisa replied, trying to hold her smirk.

"Like hell it is!" Draco protested.

"D--Draco, p--please..."

"Now Draco, if it's something serious, you'd better make sure everything is alright," she told him sternly.

Draco glared at his least favorite professor. "But I'm sure it's not! It's just Connolly making a fuss!"

"Draco." Her face turned stoney and she gestured toward the door.

**Chapter 5**

Meanwhile, Harry ran into Snape's office. "Professor, a student would like a word with you. It's Malfoy, sir. He said something about a problem and only being able to discuss it with you."

Professor Snape narrowed his eyes as Potter entered his office. "Shouldn't you be in class, Potter?"

"Well, sir," he said through gritted teeth, "in light of recent events, Professor McGonnagal has asked me to seek you out to have a word with Draco Malfoy. It sounded urgent, but I'm not one to judge."

He strained to keep a straight face and looked for any expression change on his.

"Forgive me if I find you hard to believe," Snape sneered. "Why should I listen to you?"

"Beats me, sir. But Professor McGonnagall said it was urgent. You can go if you'd like, and if not, well... I'm sure it won't be too much of a loss when Draco doesn't find his way out of a life-threatening situation," he said flatly.

Professor Snape rolled his eyes. "Fine." He stood up to leave. "Where's the boy?"

"In the dungeons, sir. Well...somewhat near the dungeons. I'll show you the way." He left the room, closely followed by Snape.

He quickened his pace just to spite him.

Professor Snape took one long stride and caught up to Potter.

"It's just along here, Professor," Harry said quite loudly, pointing down the hallway where the potions cupboard was.

Draco met Professor Snape in the hallway. "You wanted to see me, Professor?"

"What are you talking about? Potter said you needed to see me."

Draco shook his head. "Not unless I'm losing my mind."

"It's already been lost, Malfoy."

"Shut up, Connolly."

"How adorable. New girlfriend, Draco?"

"Not quite. She's James Connolly's daughter. One of them, at least."

"Oh."

"Now that you two have found each other, I'm sure you have loads to talk about. Come on, Potter. Let's go," Lisa remarked, gesturing to Harry.

An odd burning smell began to fill the air.

"Merlin's beard, that smells like smoke!" shouted Harry.

Lisa rolled her eyes. "Brilliant," she mouthed.

"Potter, what the ruddy hell did you DO?!" Professor Snape shouted, completely outraged as he saw his cupboards of remedies and other various potions burst into flames.

"I don't think it was Potter, Professor. I think it was Connolly."

"Aw, Draco, I'm hurt that you'd think it was me... I have no idea what's going on. I just know Professor Snape wanted to talk to you about something."

"NO I DID NOT!" Snape shouted, running towards the cupboard and immediately putting out the fire. "You three. Detention. Tonight. My office."

"Detention?! Professor, it was all Draco, I heard him talking about it! Why do you think Lisa and I went to get you?" he blurted.

"I highly doubt that, Potter," Snape sneered. "Why would Mr. Malfoy wish to speak with me, and why would he request for you to get me, when he can see me practically any time he wants?"

Lisa shrugged. "We thought it might be faster, Professor..."

"Connolly, just shut up before I make your life miserable," Draco sneered.

"Oh, you've done that already. Don't worry about it, Malfoy. I think I'll survive."

"That is enough, you two. I still want to see the three of you in detention tonight in my office. Yes, even you, Mr. Malfoy, because you too were out of classes."

Draco dropped his head down sadly. "Yes, Professor," he replied, since it was Snape.

"WHAT THE BLOODY HELL IS GOING ON WITH YOU TWO?!" shouted Harry.

"Why the bloody hell is it any of your business, Potter?" Draco sneered.

Harry gripped his wand inside his pocket. "There's something going on, and you," he glanced at Lisa, "aren't telling me. Now I normally don't stick my nose in other people's business but this seems to be really bothering you, Alyssa." Snape snorted at this last comment.

"It's nothing, Potter. Don't worry about it. I never said we were mates or anything," she snapped harshly. Harry turned a deep crimson and said angrily, "I'll see you in detention." He turned sharply and walked briskly toward the Gryffindor tower.

**Chapter 6**

Harry leaned back on his chair and stared determinedly at the blank desk in front of him.

Lisa twiddled her thumbs and whistled softly to herself. So far this was the most boring detention ever, and she'd been in a lot of detentions.

"So, what I'm thinking," Snape began as he strutted into the dungeon. "Is that you three need to learn how to work together. So the three of you are going to be stuck in here while alphabetizing my potions. You need to learn how to get along."

"No, we don't, Professor!" Lisa and Draco exclaimed in unison, before turning and glaring at each other.

"And that is why. Have fun," Snape said before going out of the dungeons again.

"That sounds absolutely splendid, Professor! Let's get to it!" Harry forced a very wide smile and practically skipped over to the potions closet.

Lisa stared at Harry. "What the bloody hell are you smoking, Potter?"

"I was just thinking that maybe the Professor has something lethal in his closet," his smile vanished alarmingly fast, "that will save me from this hell of an hour."

She rolled her eyes. "Whatever. If you're going to try to get either one of us to talk, it's not going to work."

"I don't want you to bloody talk," he mumbled.

"Good," they both said in unison again.

Harry sat down for a minute, then stood up quickly, pushing the desk back as he did. The noise made Lisa jump. "Well. I think I've learned my lesson." He turned to Lisa and bowed. "Good evening, Alyssa," and with that he started for the door.

"And what lesson would that be, Potter?" she asked, cringing at the fact that he used her full name.

Harry halted and turned around slowly. "Well, it's kind of a combination, really. Number one: Never go with a plan just for the hell of it, especially when it hasn't been created yet. Number two, and listen carefully, because this pertains to you, dear: I refuse to ever become bloody "MATES" with someone who refuses to COMMUNICATE WITH ME!!" He paused for a second and took a deep breath. "I can see you and Malfoy need to sort out your relationship..." he said, as he flailed his arms, "...or whatever... but I'm off to do something a bit more productive," he finished harshly, then left the room and slammed the door.

Lisa turned towards Draco. "He really is a prick, isn't he?" she questioned, motioning to Harry, who had just left them alone in detention without Professor Snape's supervision. _Not exactly the wisest idea, Potter, _Lisa thought.

Harry marched angrily towards the library, hoping to see Ashling there. After he turned a corner, he slowed down, now relieved to be away from Malfoy.

Ashling was at a table surrounded by several Transfiguration books and appeared tired and frustrated. She looked up as Harry sat at her table. Her face immediately brightened.

"Oh, hiya Harry! Wait, I thought you had detention," she said slowly.

"I did," he replied, taking his seat next to Ashling. "But I couldn't stand being in the same room as Lisa and Malfoy, considering the fact that neither of us are mates."

"Oh," she sighed disappointedly. "I thought you and Lisa were getting along."

"So did I," Harry responded bitterly. "But apparently she didn't think so."

"Hmm..." she trailed off. She suddenly remembered her assignment and mumbled, "I can't understand Transfiguration for my life..." A wide grin suddenly spread across her face. "Say, Harry... Ron wouldn't be any good at this stuff, would he?" she asked hopefully.

He tried to contain his laughter. Ron... good at **Transfiguration**?? He bit his lip to keep in the unbearable laughter. "No... sorry. You could try asking Hermione, though. She's positively brilliant at everything," Harry answered.

"Ah, dimenti-- Forget it," she corrected herself. "I'm not sure if that Hermione likes me. She's kind of odd," she added.

Harry shrugged. "I didn't like her all that much either, at first, to be honest. I guess you just sort of get used to her. I'm sure she'd be willing to help you out, though."

"Well, alright, I guess I'll talk to her tomorrow then." She rose and started placing her books in her bag. "So where are you headed now?"

He shrugged. "Probably back to the common room, I guess. Because I _really _don't want to go back to detention with Lisa and Malfoy."

"DRACO Malfoy? She won't be too happy about that," she said as a concerned look crossed her face."

"The one and only," Harry responded. "And why's that?? Did he not give her a shag or something?" Sure, it was a little harsh, but at the time, he didn't really care. "Or was it just not up to her standards?"

"...A shag...?" she fought the urge to laugh at England's silly slang.

He nodded. "Okay..." she replied, still confused. "Well," she glanced at her watch. "I think I'm off to my common room to try this homework. I'll see you tomorrow?" she said with a smile.

Harry nodded again and left the library.

**Chapter 7**

Malfoy rocked back and forth in his chair, staring at the clock determinedly. The silence became unbearable before he started to tap his feet on the ground.

Lisa drummed her fingers lightly on the desk top. "Well, this is seriously the most fun I think I've ever had," she grumbled.

"Wouldn't surprise me, Connolly," he said back to her in a monotonous tone.

"Really?" she asked, arching an eyebrow over at him. "And why's that?"

"Well," he continued, "it's just that your family seems to have a thing against risk-taking. But then again, I suppose most muggles are accustomed to not having much of a life." He paused, then added matter-of-factly, "you being a mudblood and all."

She glared at him intensly. "I am **not **a mudblood, Malfoy. And I have nothing against taking risks. If I did, do you _really _think I'd be here with you right now?"

Draco opened his mouth to speak, but Professor Snape strode into the room at that moment. "Very well," he said, peering at them, "you're free to go. I expect you tomorrow at the same time." He stepped aside and held the door open, summoning them to leave.

Lisa stood up, quite surprised that Professor Snape wasn't demanding to know where Potter was, or why they weren't doing the assigned task. She shrugged it off and stood up, glaring at Malfoy as she did so. "You really are an arrogrant prick. You know that, right?" she questioned.

Malfoy stood up, ran a hand through his sleek hair, and looked down at Lisa. He was a few inches taller than she was. He gazed at her, then glanced at Professor Snape. "Good night, Professor," he said, and left the room without looking at Lisa again.

Lisa swore she felt her breath stop for a minute when he looked at her like that, but she shrugged it off and made her way back to the common room.

**Chapter 8**

Ashling tried desperately to focus on the transfiguration homework in front of her, still trying to decipher it at breakfast. However, she often found her gaze move towards the Gryffindor table.

"What's so fascinating over there?" Lisa asked bitterly, playing around with the food on her plate.

"What's not?" she answered with a sigh. "Which reminds me."

She turned to face Lisa, then asked her in italian, "What's happened between you and Harry?"

She shrugged. "Nothing happened," she replied back in Italian.

She shook her head. "Apparently something has, or do you like to choose who and who not to have detention with?"

Lisa rolled her eyes before they travelled on to the Slytherin table. They met with a pair of silver-blue eyes that had apparently been watching her, and she glared at him, to which he returned. "Well, I'd prefer to have detention with people I can actually stand."

"Hmm," she answered, before looking over to the Gryffindor table again, to see Ron gazing at her. She smiled and blushed as their eyes met, and she looked away quickly.

"I'm gonna go run," Lisa remarked, tired of just sitting there. Even though she hadn't eaten anything, she thought a run might do her some good. Clear her head, rid her thoughts of Draco Malfoy, and make her stop wondering why she felt that way whenever he looked at her.

"Okay. I'm gonna go ask for help with this," she responded, before gathering her books and walking over to the Gryffindor table.

She sat down at the only empty seat between Ginny Weasely and Hermione, across from Harry. "Hi, Harry, Hermione." She smiled and handed her the textbook. "I was wondering...if you could help me..." she trailed off and blushed.

Hermione nodded and took the textbook into her lap, before going off on a long-winded explanation in dumbed-down English.

"Oh, mille grazie! I understand better now," she said to her, looking both relieved and a bit taken aback at Hermione's tone.

The know-it-all nodded, noticing how Ron's eyes seemed to wander over in Ashling's direction. "No problem. I don't mind helping out people who actually _care _about school work and aren't interested in copying," she responded.

Ashling opened her mouth slightly and smiled slowly, looking in Ron's direction. She made eye-contact with him and giggled.

Hermione rolled her eyes and returned to her discussion with Harry.

"Ron," Ashling called over to him. "Are you on the Quidditch team?"

Ron nodded. "Keeper, why?"

"Oh, I'm chaser!" she exclaimed. "Small world..."

"Apparently," he replied, smiling at her before tuning back into Harry and Hermione's discussion.

"Well, I guess I'll head towards class. I have Charms now," she said, feeling like an intrusion on their conversation.

Ron nodded vaguely, interested in hearing about some war-related issues.

**Chapter 9**

Lisa was out on the Quidditch pitch, running her third lap when she began to feel her legs tire.

Malfoy was walking slowly towards the Quidditch Pitch, staring intently at Lisa.

Lisa felt a pair of familiar gray-blue eyes watching her run, and she didn't need to turn around to know that it was none other than Draco Malfoy. _Merlin, I thought that I'd be able to forget about him by now, _she thought miserably.

"You know, I don't know how muggles do it," he called out to her. "But we've invented broomsticks and floo powder for a reason."

"Screw you, Malfoy," she remarked as she ran passed him. "Oh, wait. I've already done that."

Malfoy started sprinting behind her. Once he was close enough, he wrapped an arm around her and pulled her down to the ground.

She glared up at him, although she couldn't deny that she loved being in his arms again. _Shut up shut up shut up... It's Malfoy..._

Draco looked down at her.

"_What_?"

"Why?" he whispered. "Why are you being this way?"

"What way? It's you that's being the asshole," she shot.

"You know how I feel about you," he said gently.

"Yeah. Apparently you care about me _so much _that you can't stand _not _being an asshole for more than two seconds," she hissed.

"You know my father," he protested, as he pushed a strand of her hair away from her face. "And you know I hate him for what he made me do."

She flinched at his touch. "I thought you didn't listen to your father," she muttered. "I mean, he's not the one telling you to be such a jerk to me."

"It wasn't me, Lisa..." He sat up and laid face-up on the cold grass. "I never wanted to stop seeing you...it was out of my control," he sighed.

She rolled her eyes and sat up, hugging her knees tightly together. "It's _always _out of your control. Whatever, Malfoy, I don't want to hear it."

"No, you _need_ to hear it." He sat in front of her and held her hands. "My father...didn't agree with our relationship... If he found out about us even seeing each other right now, I don't know what he'd do."

Lisa flinched at his touch, hoping like hell he'd leave her alone soon so that her heart would stop this breaking. "So I suppose I'm not worth the risk then. I understand."

"You don't know what he's capable of. But you know what? I've been thinking about it, and I've decided...he can go to ruddy hell. I never stopped loving you."

"Don't say that, Malfoy, when you know it isn't true," she hissed, standing up. "Stop lying to my face. I don't deserve it."

"And I don't deserve you," he whispered quietly, standing up as well and grabbing onto her hand, pulling her close to him. Draco loved having her in his arms again... even if she was squirming to get away. "Lisa, why won't you believe me?"

"Because you don't give me reason to believe you," she muttered, feeling heat radiating off of her skin from being so close to him. It was like heaven in hell at the same time. She wanted to be, and at the same time, she wanted to smack him across the face for making her so miserable. Why was he playing games with her? What did she do to him to deserve such cruel forms of torture?

Draco cocked an eyebrow at her and smirked his infamous Malfoy smirk. "So, you need a reason, eh?" he inquired, before leaning in and kissing her gently.

She responded almost immediately, kissing him back and wrapping her arms around him, pulling him even closer to her. He was like a drug... and she was totally, 100% addicted.

**Chapter 10**

Ashling listened intently as her sister told her in Italian about her morning with Draco. She didn't want to miss a detail. Their conversation halted at the sound of Professor Slughorn's voice.

Professor Slughorn walked into his early morning Potions class-- Ravenclaw and Gryffindor. "Good morning, class," he greeted cheerfully. "Today, we will be working on a rather complex potion, but I think we need to change things up a bit. Because if we keep everything the same, then it's just boring. So everyone, please stand up while I re-assign you your seats and potions partners."

Ashling gathered her books and followed everyone to the front of the room.

Slughorn nodded. "Very good." He took the scroll with the roll call and began calling off names. "Connolly."

"Which one?"

"You. You're paired with Potter. Go sit near the corner."

Harry groaned. "Professor, can't you change it?"

"Scared to work with me, Potter?"

"No. I just don't want to."

"Peace between the two houses is very important this year, you two. Go sit in your assigned tables."

He grumbled incoherently before following Lisa to the back of the room, where he slammed his books down.

"Now, Connolly," Slughorn remarked, looking over at Ashling. "I want you and Weasley to sit up towards the front of the room."

Ashling looked up immediately at Ron, who was talking to Seamus at the other side of the dungeon. He glanced at her when he heard their names. She smiled shyly before walking over to their desk and sitting down next to him.

"So, this'll be a fun year," Ron commented as they sat down towards the front of the year. "I mean, Potions without Snape. Doesn't get much better than that." He smiled over at her. "Hey, listen... sorry about this morning. We were just discussing casualties and such, and I was wondering if it was anyone I knew. I didn't mean to ignore you like that."

"Oh, don't worry about it, bello. So...do you do well in potions?" she asked as she wrote her name on a new piece of parchment.

Ron snorted. "Not at all. Sorry..." his ears went red slightly. "What about you?"

"Well, i'm fairly good," she said with a grin. "If you can learn a second language, potions is easy."

"Second language?" he asked stupidly. "What other language do you speak?"

She giggled. "Italiano, bello. Lisa and I grew up in Italy... but everyone here has been very welcoming."

He smiled slightly. "Well, I hope you continue to enjoy it here. Even though some of the blokes around here can be real pricks. Like that Draco Malfoy..." he groaned. "I saw your sister with him earlier. Is she blind, or just stupid? Doesn't she see him for what he really is?"

"No, she sees who he really is. Between you and me," she leaned closer to him, "they're a bit more than friendly. But that's our secret," she whispered, her eyes shining in the candlelight.

Ron gagged at the mere thought about _anyone _being more than friendly with his sworn enemy. "And what about you and me?" he inquired. "I mean, you'd consider us... mates, right?"

He placed his hand lightly on her arm. "Of course we are," she said softly, feeling her cheeks turning pink.

His ears turned red with her hand on his arm, and his own hand covered hers. "Good," he smiled. "Because I wouldn't want it any other way." His smile grew a bit wider before forcing his eyes to pay attention to Slughorn's lesson.

Harry tapped the tip of his quill repeatedly on his ink bottle. _Of all people to be paired with,_ he thought,_ I'm stuck with Alyssa...  
_

"Do you **mind**?" she asked, getting fed up with the ongoing tapping of his ink bottle. It was rather infuriating, but not as infuriating as being his _partner.  
_

Harry stopped and gave Alyssa a dirty look. He then began to lean his chair perilously back and forth, seeing it bother his partner.

"You know, just because I would like to know who you are is no reason to get me into detention, then decide you're not going to act in a civilized manner," he said dryly in hushed tones.

"And why would you want to know who I am?" she asked coldly. "I mean, you're just going to leave eventually, so it doesn't matter."

"I don't know why the bloody hell you're so ruddy paranoid," he mumbled, "but I know you're not going to tell me."

"Why should I? You don't know anything about me."

"That would be the point of introducing oneself," he shot.

"And _why _would you be so interested in getting to know me?"

"Gee, I don't know, it just seems once you blow up a potions closet [that no longer belongs to snape] together, you share a certain bond with someone," he said a bit more loudly.

Alyssa glared at him. "Shut up, Potter," she hissed. "It was for fun. You were the only one there."

"Until dearest Draco came along. But that's alright. Go tend to your unfinished business then talk to me."

"What are you talking about?"

"It seems to me that there's something going on between you and Malfoy that not too many people know about. And I've dealt with him a lot in the past; he's a lying, smug little git."

"And why do you care? I thought I made it quite clear that we're not friends. So what's it to you who I hang out with?"

"Good company is hard to come across these days..." he said as he lowered his voice. "I just thought maybe you'd be someone I could count on."

"And why's that?"

"I know we've gotten off to a rather rocky start, but you have to listen to me." He lowered his voice even more. "Stay away from Draco Malfoy. He's more trouble than he's worth... That's my advice. Take it or leave it."

"I'm not stupid," she grumbled, feeling tears prick behind her eyes as her heart started breaking a bit. Especially after their morning, she was more confused than ever with Draco Malfoy, she really _didn't _want to love him.... _I don't. I gave up on love. He doesn't like you, Lisa, so just get over it already.  
_

Harry saw Lisa turn pink, as if she were about to cry. He glanced up at Professor Slughorn, who seemed to be completely distracted from the class, writing notes on the chalkboard. Harry seized the opportunity. "Listen..." He wrapped an arm around her and tried to look as friendly as possible. "I don't know what your relationship with Malfoy is but I'm sure you'll work something out."

At the other side of the dungeon, a feeling of complete sadness swept through Ashling. She gasped, realizing she had poked a hole through her parchment from pushing down too hard on her quill.

She shrugged off Harry's arm. "Thank you for the pity, Potter, but I don't need it," she muttered. "I don't have any relationship with Malfoy at all. He's got himself confused."

"Ashling?" Ron asked quietly. "Are you okay?" he noticed that her face got screwed up, but not like in a disgusting way... like she was suddenly really sad over something.... He placed a hand on her shoulder.

Ashling eased up and looked at Ron. "I'm fine..." she said slowly. Then she turned around sharply and tried desperately to get LIsa's attention over her shoulder.

Lisa felt like someone was trying to get her attention, so she looked up and saw Ashling looking at her.

"Che cos'e successo?" Ashling mouthed at Lisa across the classroom. A few heads turned at the distraction.

"Niente," she mouthed back. "Sto bene."

Ash turned around to face the front of the classroom slowly. She knew something was wrong, but tried to shrug it off. "Where are we?" she asked Ron distractedly, as she watched him turn the page of her textbook.

Ron pointed at the paragraph he was copying notes from.

Harry had distanced himself from Alyssa. Just as he began to think that the rest of the lesson wouldn't be bad, Slughorn announced that they should begin conjuring their potions.

"I'm sorry," Lisa whispered suddenly as she began preparing some pixie wings. "I'm just... not good at getting close to people."

"No, it's my fault..." he responded, sighing heavily. "It's just hard these days to trust people."

She nodded bitterly and began chopping up some ingredients. "You think you could get close to someone... and then...." she chopped hard on her ingredients, for dramatic effect.

Harry, not wanting to pry, listened to Alyssa quietly as he weighed the pixie wings.

"You don't even hear from them for six months, and then they turn into this asshole."

"Hmm," he responded, determined to remain neutral and not comment on his feelings about Malfoy.

"And _then _they try to act like they never _were _the asshole they actually **were**, and pretend to still have _feelings _for you," she scoffed.

Harry ran his finger down the list of ingredients and began to flip through his potions textbook. "Huh," he said monotonously.

"Tutti i uomi sono boii," she hissed angrily.

"Beg your pardon?" he mumbled, glancing up from his taproot.

"Tutti i uomi sono boii."

"Hmm..." he looked back down at the now lavender potion, "I'll keep that in mind."

Ron began to chop up some of the ingredients, and the ends of his taproot were not exactly lined together. In fact, they weren't very... _neat _at all.

Ash was watching Ron intently. Being unable to watch any longer, she said quietly, "Let me help you." She steadied Ron's arm with her left hand and moved his knife so that it was vertical with her right.

He looked over at her and smiled slightly, the tips of his ears turning red.

"You need to keep the knife perpindicular to the table," she said with a smile. She looked up at him. "Otherwise...it won't work...as well."

"Why didn't I think of that?" he questioned, chuckling at his own stupidity.

She smiled and looked down at the potion. "Now what color is this supposed to be?" she asked Ron, who was now slowly cutting the rest of the taproot.

"Lavender, it says," he replied, reading from the textbook.

"Hmm..." She stared at the potion, looking deep in thought. After a few seconds, she grabbed the bottle of snake fangs and dropped one into the potion. The potion's color immediately began to change, rapidly turning lighter and lighter from its original brown color.

"I think I might actually begin to enjoy this class," he remarked. "With you as my partner and Snape not teaching it and all."

Ashling blushed and peered over their potion, which was now a steady shade of lavender.

"Well, I think we're ready to flask it," he announced.

"Wait," she exclaimed. "Stir it counterclockwise four times; the effect will last longer."

He nodded, grabbing the spoon and doing as instructed.

"_Now _it's ready," she sighed, slowly spooning the bubbling lavender liquid into the flask Ron was holding with a look of intense concentration on his face.

Harry was stirring the potion clockwise, still listening to Lisa. He became more and more distracted by Lisa's story.

"Potter, what are you doing?!" Lisa exclaimed, noting the darker shade of lavender it had become.

"What?" he said, dazed. Suddenly he noticed his potion starting to bubble violently and that Ashling was rushing over to them holding a small bottle filled with a turquoise powder.

"What did you do?" Ash exclaimed as she emptied the contents of the small glass bottle into their potion.

"I didn't do anything!" Lisa protested. "It was that bloody Potter who wasn't paying any attention to what he was doing!"

The whole class was now watching. Slughorn didn't do a thing to intervene; he had an outstandingly different teaching style than Snape. The bell rang and everyone began to move around except for Ash, Lisa and Harry.  
"Ash," said Ron from the door, "I've got your books. Come on." He beckoned her towards him. Ash gave Lisa one last concerned look before heading towards the door.

"Brilliant, Potter," she hissed. "Positively brilliant."

Harry waited until Slughorn, Ron and Ashling left before speaking. "So."

He leaned against the desk. "What is it exactly that's going through Ms. Connolly's head now?"

"How positively stupid you are for ruining our potion like that."

"Please, it's not ruined. Your sister saved it." He paused. "Besides, I was a bit taken aback at your relationship with Malfoy."

"I never said it was with Malfoy," she hissed coldly. "And it wasn't a relationship."

"That's funny," he said firmly, looking her straight in the eyes. He wasn't sure what to tell her. _I can't let my enemies get in the way of my friends,_ he thought. "I thought being in love qualified as a relationship."

"Well, apparently we were both proven wrong," she said quietly, turning around and walking out of the dungeons, accidentally running into the _one _person she _didn't _want to see. Draco Malfoy.

Harry stared after her. It wasn't until after she left the room that he noticed she had left her Potions textbook along with some parchment on her desk. He grabbed the pile and ran for the door.

"Hello, Lisa," sighed Draco. He looked serene until Harry came into his field of view. Harry stopped next to Lisa, staring at Malfoy. "Well what do you want, Potter?" spat Malfoy frantically, not expecting Harry to come walking down the corridor.

"Hi..." she muttered, pushing a strand of her dark hair behind her ears, suddenly becoming fascinated by her feet. _Don't look at him don't look at him don't look at him...  
_

"You left this in Potions," said Harry firmly, handing her the books. He looked towards Malfoy and announced, "I'll definately see you later."

"Thanks," she whispered quietly, taking the book from his hands.

Harry gave Malfoy a last look and pat Lisa on the shoulder before walking down the corridor out of sight.

Malfoy suddenly came back to life. "What are you doing talking to his type?"

She shrugged. "Talking. I should go..."

He dropped his school bag to the floor and took a step closer to Lisa. "No, stay," he said quickly. "We need to talk."

"No, we don't," she muttered, taking a step back.

"Yes, we do," he said a bit louder. He grabbed her arm. "You can't run away forever."

"I can if I try," she whispered, looking at the hand on her arm.

"I know you're angry, and I would be too, but you have to understand, things blew out of proportion...." He stepped closer to her again, scanning her for any sign of expression change. "It was out of my control."

She bit her lip. "Malfoy..." she whispered.

"No, just listen for a minute. The second my father got wind of you...and me... and what we had together, well, it was as good as a deathwish if I didn't stop seeing you." He looked tired, stroking her cheek with the back of his hand. "And I was young, and I was stupid, and I didn't think for myself...and I listened to him... I shouldn't have, no one can tell me not to be with you. It's absurd for me to be without you. I can't stop thinking about you."

"Malfoy..." she whispered again, feeling the pieces of her heart break away slowly. "Stop doing this to me."

"Doing what to you?" He took one of her hands in his. "I've never done anything but love you."

"Stop playing games with me. I don't appreciate it. We didn't talk for six months, Draco, six months!! And then you turn into this complete bastard and treat me like I'm nothing. And you expect me to believe that you still _love _me??" she demanded, although she didn't remove her hand from his.

He ignored her accusations and placed his hand on her cheek before leaning in and kissing her.

She pulled away from him. "Draco, please."

"Lisa," he said angrily, "why are you being like this?" He took a step back. "Tell me you don't love me," he hissed fiercely. "Tell me you don't love me and I swear, I will leave you alone." His gray eyes shone in the dungeon's candlelight.

"I..." she began, although she choked slightly. "I don't love you."

"You're lying to me," he said slowly, as he took a few more steps back.

"Am I?" she asked, although he knew that he was telling the truth. She _was _lying to him... she still _did _love him... but she couldn't. How could she, when he broke away what was left of her heart? Ever since he broke up with her, she gave up on love. Why let him back in again? Why result back to that pain? Why go back to that... _wonderful _feeling of being close to him... when he'd just shatter her world again?

"I don't know anymore, Lisa. I really don't," he responded flatly. He came closer to her and kissed her on the cheek before grabbing his schoolbag. "Goodbye, Alyssa," he said firmly, trying not to show any emotion, before turning and starting down the corridor. He was heartbroken.

She sighed miserably before heading back to her common room, tears leaking out of her eyes. When she got there, she saw Ashling sitting on the couch reading a book.

Ashling looked up to see a crying Lisa. She immediately stood up and started to tear, too. She ran over to her and hugged her.

She hugged her back. "I...he...we..."

"Shhh..." Ashling tryed to calm her sister down. "It's okay. I know." She stepped back and looked straight at her. "You told him you didn't love him."

Lisa bit her lip and nodded. "Because he said he'd leave me alone..."

"You don't want him to leave you alone," Ash said knowingly.

"Yes I do..." she muttered. "Because then maybe he won't continue to break my heart..."

"You can't be afraid to go back to him, Lisa. Non parli como schema... Find him. Soon. And tell him how you really feel about him."

"Why should I?" she asked. "I'm sure he wants nothing to do with me."

"Of course he wants to be with you. Have you seen the way he looks at you? ...He's in love with you, Lisa!" she said with a laugh.

She sighed. "I don't know anymore, Ash. I really don't," she said, repeating what Draco had said to her earlier. "I think I'm jsut going to go to bed or something..."

Ash watched her sister ascend the steps to their dormitory.

**Chapter 11**

Malfoy stared off into the distance, tuning out Pansy's voice. She was sitting next to him in Defense Against the Dark Arts and had been going on for a good ten minutes about how she ruined her sweater by trying to mend it herself.

Snape's voice came back into focus. "...making them similar to boggarts in that we do not know much about them. Isn't that right, Malfoy?" he asked, smirking at him.

Malfoy came back to life. "That's right, Professor."

Alyssa, who was seated next to her sister during this same Defense Against the Dark Arts class, rolled her eyes. "You've got to be kidding me, Professor. _Obviously _he wasn't paying attention."

Malfoy closed his eyes. "Don't make a scene," he said quietly.

"So you mean because he's one of your precious _Slytherins, _he won't get in trouble? However, if it were someone from _my _house, we'd get ten points docked and the threat of detention. Honestly, I don't see what's so _precious _about him," she snapped.

"That's not a bad idea, Ms. Connolly. Consider ten points 'docked'," Snape said dryly. "And you will speak when spoken to."

"You've got to be kidding me!" she exclaimed again.

"Fifteen," he said disinterestedly. "I will continue if you wish."

Ashling kicked her sister under the table, then gave her a disapproving look.

Alyssa glared at Ashling, then at Professor Snape, then at Draco.

Draco, who had made a point not to look at Alyssa, glanced up at Professor Snape, who began to drone on again about garden gnomes.

Alyssa's glare remained steady on the side of Draco's head. "You're a _very _lucky bastard," she muttered, partially to herself, partially to him.

Snape suddenly stopped speaking and flicked his wand. A flask on the front desk shattered, making everyone jump about an inch. "Now that I have everyone's attention, I'll be pairing you up to practice the Cheering Charm on each other."

"Mr. Finnigan, you're with Crabbe. Mr. Longbottom with Ms. Parkinson..." Pansy moaned at this situation. "Ms. Connolly with Mr. Zabini--"

"Which one?" the twins asked in unison.

"Ashling," he responded slowly. "Alyssa and..." He paused and glanced around the classroom, stopping at Draco. "Mr. Malfoy."

"You've got to be _joking _me, Professor."

"Now, now, Ms. Connolly, soon we won't have any points left to take away," he responded.

"I can't work with him, Professor. You _have _to change it. I'll work with _anyone _but him!" she protested. Alyssa knew that she was making a scene over something stupid, but she didn't particularly care. She just didn't want to work with Draco on anything.

"That would be another 20 points from Ravenclaw. Now mind your toungue." Snape looked cruelly down at Alyssa.

She sighed heavily and gave Ashling a look that suggested that she were going to her own funeral before sauntering to the other side of the Defense room, where she stood in front of Draco's desk. "So, how much did you give Snape so that he'd pair us together?"

Draco looked at Alyssa for the first time since their fight. He stood up and walked over to where they would be practicing without saying a word.

He waited for Alyssa to walk over to him. Once she stood in front of him, he took a deep breath. "Are you ready?"

She whipped out her wand. "That's not the proper question," she snapped. "The proper question is... are _you _ready?"

He sighed heavily. "Don't make this any more difficult than it already--"

"What do you mean? _More _difficult? It's a simple cheering charm, Malfoy. Or do you suck so bad at Defense Against the Dark Arts that you can't even do that properly? Though it wouldn't surprise me, with a father like yours. How could you _possibly _be good at something that goes _against everything _you stand for?"

Draco, tired of hearing her speak to him, flicked his wand in her direction. A few deep purple sparks came out of the tip of his wand.

Alyssa suddenly felt a wave of happiness rush through her body, and she started grinning nonstop at Draco. "You know," she began, "you look sort of cute like that." Then she broke out into a fit of giggles.

Draco stared back at her blankly. _She's not herself,_ he thought. But he couldn't stop thinking about her... _Don't get any ideas,_ he scolded himself.

"_Very _attractive..." she replied. "I mean, if I weren't as stupid as I am, I'd do you in a second."

Draco sighed, keeping in mind that she wasn't thinking straight.

Ashling walked by them, arm-in-arm with a distanced-looking Blaise. She was muttering happily in italian. She made a few flowers shoot out of the tip of her wand and handed them to Alyssa.

"Hey, Ash!" she exclaimed in Italian. "Isn't he the _cutest _boy you've ever seen?" Alyssa was still speaking in Italian, one eye on Draco, and another on her sister, who was walking arm-in-arm with Blaise.

"No, Ron is much cuter," she responded in English, causing a few heads to turn.

Alyssa made a _pshaw _noise, rolling her eyes and turning her full-attention back on Draco.

Draco seemed unaware of everyone else in the classroom, focusing his attention on Alyssa. "Alyssa, you don't know what you're talking about," he said effortlessly. "You're--"

"--under the effect of the Cheering Charm," said Snape from behind him. "Perfectly conjured by Mr. Malfoy. However, if Ms. Connolly wishes to recieve a class grade higher than her tolerance level, I'd better see an ecstatic Draco within the next thirty seconds."

Alyssa nodded. "Absolutely, Professor!" she exclaimed enthusiastically. "Might I add that you look positively _stunning _this morning?" she asked, grinning at him before flicking her wand and pointing it in Draco's direction, giving him the Cheering Charm.

"Hmm..Perhaps you hit her a bit _too_ hard, Malfoy," Snape commented before walking away, but Draco didn't notice. He felt an exhilerating rush of happiness sweep through him. He had not felt this happy in a long time, and the first thing he saw was a beautiful Alyssa smiling and waving at him.

"Hello, Draco!" she said again. Then she started laughing. "Draco... that's... that's a funny name... sounds to me like it could be dragon. Like Puff the Magic Dragon... Are you Puff the Magic Dragon?" she asked.

He reacted as if he hadn't seen her in years. "Alyssa!" he exclaimed, before extending his arms and walking towards her. He hugged her tightly and said, "I'm so glad you're here!"

She smiled when he hugged her, and she hugged him back. "Isn't this a beautiful place?" she questioned.

"Absolutely lovely," he responded. "Suits you well."

Alyssa giggled.

Ashling saw them hugging and snapped back. "Alyssa..." she breathed.

Blaise grinned at Ashling. "Hey... did you know... you two look _exactly _alike."

"WE'RE TWINS," she yelled at him impatiently. She flung her arm out and knocked over a nearby ink bottle, spilling ink all over her uniform.

"Right, I knew that," he remarked, before picking up the ink bottle and giving the cleaning spell to her uniform.

"Please," she said quickly, "I can cast spells myself just fine." She left Blaise and walked over to Alyssa and Draco, who were now poking each other playfully with their wands.

Just as she was about to grab her sister's shoulder and turn her around, Draco kissed Lisa, the two of them grinning broadly.

Lisa kissed him back as she felt the wave of happiness evacuate from her body. _Damn, _she thought. Regardless, she continued to kiss him and wrap her arms around him, closing her eyes.

"THAT is enough!" shouted Snape, making both of them jump. Draco's mind suddenly became crystal clear; he had been charmed, and he just kissed Lisa, after vowing to never go near her again.

"I will not stand for this kind of display in my classroom. You are all dismissed. But you," he pointed at Alyssa and Draco, who were gaping at him, dumbstruck, "you've been warned."

She sighed. "Brilliant, Malfoy," she hissed, going and grabbing her bag and slinging it around her shoulder. "Was this part of the plan?"

Ash gathered her books and silently left the classroom.

Malfoy nodded his head in Professor Snape's direction, suggesting that they shouldn't discuss the matter in his earshot.

Alyssa rolled her eyes. "Whatever. I don't want to hear it."

Draco impatiently took his books and left the classroom, slamming the door behind him.

Ashling sat at the Ravenclaw table, studying silently while Cho told a group of jealous Ravenclaws about the Tornados signing her broomstick.

Alyssa sighed miserably as she was playing around with the food on her plate, thinking about the Defense Against the Dark Arts class she had.

Over at the Gryffindor table, Ron found that his eyes were constantly wandering. He was barely listening to what Harry was babbling about... something about Hermione being angry over something. He sighed, especially when his eyes rested on Ashling.

Seamus noticed Ron's distraction and smirked. "Hey, Ron. Put your eyes back in your head before they fall into your pumpkin juice, mate."

Ron turned his attention back to his tablemates and rolled his eyes. "Sorry..."

Harry grinned. "So have you proposed yet?"

"Proposed what?" he asked stupidly.

Harry and Seamus exchanged hopeless looks. "You know, Ron..." said Seamus, "the Ball's this Saturday. Do you think you can hold yourself together long enough to go ask her?"

"Shut up, Finnegan," he grumbled.

"That's not a bad idea," said Neville earnestly.

Harry and Seamus exchanged grins. They each grabbed one of Ron's arms and pulled him up, then shoved him across the Great Hall. Half the Gryffindor table snickered at him, standing red-faced in the middle of the Hall.

Ron glared at them and went back to the table. "Prats," he grumbled.

"At least I know _I'll _have a date," he shot.

Harry raised his eyebrows. "It's not over 'til the fat lady sings."

"And who are you taking, then?"

"Hmm..." he glanced down the table.

"Oy, Lavender!" he yelled at her, before lowering his voice and smiling broadly. "Would you care to accompany me to this weekend's Masquerade Ball?"

Lavender, who was sitting next to Parvati, suddenly blushed. She nodded and grinned, before going back to talking to her best mate.

Harry turned to Ron and said matter-of-factly, "You know, I think I hear Professor Sprout warming up for some opera..."

Ron glared at him before standing up. "You know what? I'll go ask her right now!"

Seamus laughed heartily while shaking his head. "He won't do it!" he told Neville.

He rolled his eyes before he found himself marching over to the Ravenclaw table. "Ashling?"

Ashling looked up from her Astronomy book to see a crimson-faced Ron. "Oh, hi! What's up?

"I was wondering if..."

Cho shrieked. Alyssa had just knocked over her cup of pumpkin juice, spilling it all over Ashling's books.

"Oh!" Ashling rushed to save her textbook. She quickly whipped out her wand and cleaned the mess. She turned back to Ron. "Sorry, what were you saying?"

He bit his lip. "I was just wondering if you... you..." he broke off. This was much harder than he thought. "Wanttocometothemasquaradeballwithmethisweekend?"

She looked confused. "I'm sorry, what was that?"

"Would you like to cometothemasquaradeballwithme?"

Ashling shook her head and giggled. "Ron, I can't understand what you're saying." Alyssa and Cho were now watching intently, along with half the Gryffindor table.

"Would. You. Like. To. Come. To. The. Masquarade. Ball. With. Me?" he asked slowly, steadily, making sure all of the words came out properly. They did.

A wave of happiness rushed through her. She tossed her Astronomy book aside and hugged him, while saying "bello!"

"Does that mean yes?" he asked stupidly, hugging her back.

"Yes," she said, taking a step back. "Of course I'll come with you." She was now blushing a bright shade of pink.

He grinned at her before taking her hand in his and kissing it. "'Til then, milady," he replied, before going back to the Gryffindor table, smirking at his friends who were gaping at him.

"I stand corrected, mates," said Seamus, finally.

Ashling sat back down, unable to stop smiling. She stared at her hand where he had kissed it, and touched it to her cheek, giggling uncontrollably.

Alyssa rolled her eyes at her sister.

Cho and a few other Ravenclaws looked back from Ash to the Gryffindor table in awe.

"Got a problem, Chang?" she hissed in an annoyed fashion.

"No," she said quietly, taken aback at Alyssa's remark.

Ashling looked at her sister disapprovingly. "What's wrong now?"

"Nothing. Why?"

"Because you almost just set Cho on fire," she responded in italian.

"Too bad."

"Lisa," she began in English. "I'm sure if you talk to Draco, he'll understand...Obviously he didn't mean to kiss you, you were under the Cheering Charm. Look at him." She pointed at the Slytherin table, showing Alyssa Draco's blank expression. He looked deep in thought. "He's heartbroken over you."

"I don't care," she grumbled. "I don't want anything to do with him."

"You're being stubborn," she said sternly. "Go talk to him before I force you."

"Force me, then."

Ashling sighed and took out her wand. Despite her sister's protests, she placed a banishing charm on Lisa's wand, causing it to float over to the Slytherin table and drop right beside Malfoy's plate. Surprised, he picked it up and observed the handle, not realizing where it came from.

"Now go get it," retorted Ashling flatly.

She rolled her eyes and sauntered over towards the Slytherin table. "Wand, please, Malfoy?"

Malfoy jumped at her voice. A few onlookers chuckled. "Oh, this--is yours?"

"Yeah."

"Well here you are. Just-- go easy on the Cheering...Charm, alright? I wouldn't want to be falsely accused of anything," he said angrily.

"It wasn't like I _wanted _to place it on you."

"Yes. I suppose it sprouted wings and flew here. Once you've seen a devil sprout horns, nothing's a surprise."

She rolled her eyes and snatched her wand from his. "You know, what they say about you is true," she began harshly. "You really are a _much _better kisser than you are person."

"Which lovely Hogwarts lady told you that? I need to go find her," he chuckled, giving his friends a sly smirk.

"I could name a few," she hissed. "And they weren't all that lovely."

"Well, if you're comparing them to yourself, then you'll need to find a new reference."

"So I guess looks really don't mean _that much _to you, Malfoy," she hissed. "You surprise me."

"Don't flatter yourself, Connolly."

"Someone ought to."

Mafoy stared at Alyssa for a moment, then turned his back to her. "Pansy!" he shouted down the table. "Come here."

Pansy trotted over to Malfoy, looking pleased that he was calling her over in public, even more so that he had an angry Ravenclaw standing behind him. "Hi, Draco!" she said happily.

"Hey, I have something to ask you." He put an arm around her, pulling her in closer, his back still to Alyssa. "Do you want to come to the ball with me?"

"Ooooooo, _sure_," she drawled. She giggled loudly and smirked at Alyssa.

Alyssa rolled her eyes at them. "Oiy, Zabini!"

Blaise looked up at Alyssa. His face brightened. "What can I do you for, Alyssa?"

"Want to come to the ball with me?" she asked, walking over towards him and sitting down next to him, placing a hand on his arm.

"Oh, wow," he said, dumbfounded. "Sure, I'll go with you! But I gotta run now, I forgot my Potions textbook in my dormitory. I'll definately see you later," he said, smiling widely, before kissing her on the cheek and departing.

She smiled and glanced over at Draco and Pansy, smirking at Draco.

Draco tried to hide his emotion, but looked pained nonetheless. He eventually snapped out of it and looked back at Pansy. "This ball is going to be _loads_ of fun."

He leaned in and kissed her very slowly. "Draco!" she squealed, now starting to tickle him. He forced a laugh in Alyssa's direction.

Alyssa rolled her eyes and tried to look passive before making her way back to the Ravenclaw table, sitting next to Ashling. "Happy?" she hissed.

Ashling's mouth was open wide. "How could you?!" she gasped.

"How could I what?"

"Play with Blaise's emotions like that! And forcing Draco to do the same..."

"I don't care. If Malfoy can do that with that slut Parkinson and me, then I can play that game too. It takes two to tango, Ash," she replied. "I'm going to go run."

"Don't be late for tonight's game," she called disappointedly, watching her leave.

She nodded and made her way out to the Quidditch pitch.

**Chapter 12**

The Ravenclaw Quidditch team stood outside the locker room, ready to fly out into the pitch, when Ashling heard someone shouting her name. She turned to see Ron beckoning her from under the bleachers.

"Ron! We're about to start!" she said quickly, making sure Madam Hooch was nowhere near.

"I just wanted to say good luck," he said, the tips of his ears turning red. "You can beat those ruddy Slytherins," he assured her, kissing her on the cheek.

Ashling beamed at him, hearing Lee bellow "RAVENCLAW!" distantly in the backround. "Mille grazie," she said cheerfully before hopping on her broom. She hovered out from under the bleachers and kicked forcefully off the ground.

Alyssa mounted on her broom before zooming out, going higher and higher, as she was the Seeker.

Cho and Ashling, the two Chasers, flew side by side by the Ravenclaw seats, waving to their house, whom responded with a deafening roar.

They flew back to the center of the pitch. "And there's the Quaffle!" shouted Lee as Madam Hooch threw it high into the air, where it was quickly stolen by Cho.

Alyssa flew a bit higher, and began circling around to look for the Snitch.

Lee's voice boomed throughout the crowd. "...it looks like a Hawkshead Attacking Formation by Cho Chang and Ashling Connolly!"

Cho and Ashling sped down the pitch side by side, throwing the Quaffle back and forth between them forcefully. Once at the end, Cho threw the Quaffle to Ashling and charged at the keeper. Ashling took advantage of the moment and scored. She looked up to her sister hovering some distance above her.

Alyssa was still hovering around, trying her _best _not to glare at Malfoy, who was keeping on her tail.

Malfoy turned abruptly, pretending to see the snitch. Alyssa tailed him for a few seconds, then Malfoy slowed down and moved so that he was flying next to her.

"_What _the bloody hell was that for?" she hissed.

"You're easily scared, you know that?" he said with a grin, before nodding at Pansy who was screaming at the top of her lungs from the Slytherin stands.

"Scared of what?"

"Of different things. But you have good reason to be," he shouted before zooming down by his teammates.

She chased after him, still keeping an eye out for the Snitch.

Draco suddenly shot towards the players. Alyssa followed him, thinking he saw the snitch.

But he wasn't concentrating on anything...He was zooming towards Crabbe. Before any of the Ravenclaws realized what he was doing, Malfoy had already beat one of the bludgers in Ashling's direction.

Ashling sensed something was wrong.

She began to hear screams coming from different directions. Just as she swerved around to see what had happened, a bludger aimed for her missed and hit her broom instead.

Everything seemed to slow down around her. She could no longer see anyone, but was hanging from her broom for dear life. She was descending rapidly, hearing screams from every direction. Fifty feet from the ground, she lost her grip and fell fast and hard.

She felt wind rushing around her, then sharp pain consume her. People rushing towards her seemed to spin around, then she finally only saw pitch black.

Alyssa flew to the ground, noting that Madame Hooch had stopped the game. "Who hit her??" she asked angrily.

Cho was trying to get Ashling to come to, while Lee could be heard on the loudspeakers. "Blimey, that Malfoy deserves to be kicked off the team--" followed by a sharp reprimand from McGonnagall.

Alyssa tensed. Of _course_ it had to be Malfoy. She marched right over towards him and smacked him across the face.

Malfoy was very pale. "Alyssa--I'm...I'm so sorry--"

"You ruddy _bastard_!" she hissed.

"I-- I didn't mean to--" he stammered.

"Yes you did."

"I didn't know she'd fall off!" he bellowed.

She rolled her eyes. "Of _course _you bloody knew that!"

He groaned angrily and walked off the field, some onlookers booing him along.

Alyssa rolled her eyes at him.

Madam Pomfrey came trotting down the field, trying to make her way through the crowd.

Alyssa, feeling too pissed off at Malfoy to stay with her sister, went off and looked for him.

Malfoy was leaning against a tree by the Black Lake, letting a snitch fly away from him about a foot then catching it again over and over. He saw Alyssa coming and ignored her.

"Malfoy," she grumbled.

"What do you want?" he said harshly, without looking at her.

"You know what I want."

"No, I don't, Alyssa," he said as he turned to look at her. "I don't know what you want. Are you happy?" he spat exasperatedly.

"No."

"Well then I guess you need to work on that," he said, returning to his snitch. "And in the meantime, I'll try not to kill off your family."

She rolled her eyes at him again and pressed her lips up against his.

Draco pulled away. "How can you keep changing your mind," he whispered.

"I'm not changing my mind," she muttered. "I just wanted to let you know what you're missing while you're off having a rendezvous with Parkinson at the ball on Saturday."

"I wouldn't talk so smugly, Mrs. Zabini," he responded.

"Have you proposed to her yet?" she asked coldly, ignoring his comment, and referring to Pansy.

"Not yet, but who knows? We might hit it off," he said flatly.

"Well, then, congratulations. I hope your lovely father is happy when he finds out his son is marrying a slut."

"He'll be ecstatic, don't worry about that," he said ironically.

"Right. Because he did the same exact thing."

Malfoy gave her a cold look, then got up and walked away. "I'm not talking to you if you're going to be this way," he shouted over his shoulder, making his way reluctantly back over to the Quidditch Pitch.

"Good. Because I never wanted you to talk to me in the first place."

Draco ignored Alyssa's comment and arrived at the Quidditch Pitch, Alyssa following him closely, to find that only half the school was present. Everyone was leaving the stands. A Slytherin first year ran past him. "HEY!" he yelled. "Where's everyone gone?"

The first-year turned around and yelled back, "To the hospital wing! They just left. That Connolly had a nasty fall, and they stopped the game since a couple of players were missing …" He squinted at Malfoy. "Say, aren't you the seeker that knocked her down?"

But before he finished, Malfoy had already started running towards the Hospital Wing.

Lisa sprinted after Malfoy, soon catching up with him and passing him. _I can kick his ass any day,_ she thought smugly, turning to face him making an expression that challenged him to a race.

Malfoy grinned at Lisa and doubled his pace.

She smirked at him and went a bit faster, still in the lead.

"What makes you think you're gonna win, Connolly?" shouted Draco, panting.

"The fact that you're panting," she exclaimed, her smirk growing wider.

"I'm not tired!" he shouted back, running faster.

She glared at him but her eyes sort of bulged when he caught up with her. "And what makes you think _you're _going to win, Malfoy?"

"Simple!" he exclaimed, slowing a bit. "I'm superior."

"You've got to be joking me," she hissed, picking up her pace a bit, loving the fact that she had always been one for long-distance.

They entered the school, running loudly down the corridors. Malfoy tripped over himself, but quickly got back up and sprinted up to Alyssa.

She snorted, which caused her to fall behind slightly, but she was able to pick it up slightly.

They neared the Hospital Wing. Malfoy extended an arm to touch the door, but Alyssa did the same. They hit the door at the same time.

Malfoy paused to catch his breath, and slowly opened the door. He stepped inside, surprised to see the room empty. "I guess we beat them to it," he said to Alyssa.

"Apparently," she said, panting slightly. "I refuse a tie. I say rematch later."

"You're on," he said with a smirk, but it quickly dissolved when the door opened once more.

The once vacant Hospital Wing, except for Draco and Lisa, was soon crowded with members of the Ravenclaw team, as well as several sepctators that had followed them to make sure she was alright. Ron was carrying Ashling in his arms, looking rather worried, and Madame Pomfrey was behind him. "Out of my way!" she exclaimed. "Weasley, put her over here." Ron obeyed her and gently rested her down on the bed that the school nurse had indicated. Lisa, who was standing too close to Draco for comfort but couldn't pull away because of the crowd, glared at him.

"I hope you're bloody happy," she hissed, remembering that it was him who had caused her sister to fall.

The crowd started to move back from the bed, giving Madam Pomfrey room to tend to Ashling. Draco pushed through the crowd until he reached the bed. "Erm...how--is she?" he asked Madam Pomfrey awkwardly.

"I'm not sure..." Madame Pomfrey. "Get away. I need to run some tests."

"And what the bloody hell would you care, Malfoy?" he hissed. "It's your fault she's here anyway."

"Why do _you _give a damn, Weasley? Go hug a muggle," he spat back.

"I _care _because we're mates. Me and Ash, not me and you. And when you're **mates **with someone, you **care **about them. Though I'm sure you don't know what either of those words mean."

"Yeah, I suppose you're mum taught you more about that and begging for money than being a man," he said angrily.

"Don't talk about my mum, arse," he grumbled, his fingers balling into a fist.

"Yeah, I suppose you can't find other ways to entertain yourself but hang around with rubbish like--"

Ron marched over to him and decked him in the face.

There were a few screams. Madam Pomfrey shrieked for them to leave, but Malfoy had already stood back up and punched him in the eye.

Ron glared at him, punching him in the stomach.

Harry jumped on Ron, ripping him off of Malfoy. He beckoned some nearby Quidditch players to help him.

Malfoy ignored Harry and hit Ron repeatedly, trying to cause as much pain possible. He let all of his anger go... Everything he had accumulated in the past year was suddenly becoming easier to deal with.

Ron doubled over in pain as Draco continually beat on him. Eventually he kneed him where the sun don't shine, and kicked his shin before punching his face again.

Malfoy punched him in the stomach forcefully a final time before a tall seventh year grabbed both of his arms and dragged him backwards.

"ENOUGH!" screamed Madam Pomfrey. "MAKE PEACE OR LEAVE NOW!"

Malfoy shrugged the seventh-year off of him before marching fiercely to the door and slamming it behind him.

Ron rolled his eyes and glared at the floor before turning back to Madame Pomfrey. "Is she going to be okay?" he asked.

"Oh, she'll be fine, don't worry about that," she said sternly. "But now I have you to deal with as well."

"No, Madame Pomfrey, I'm fine."

"Well," she said cautiously, before taking out her wand and flicking it towards his face, causing his lip to stop bleeding. "That will do for now. I'll tend to you later."

She then scurried over to a cabinet and poured a spoonful of green liquid from a small glass vial. She went back to the bed and forced it into Ashling.

Ashling slowly opened her eyes to find herself lying in a bed in the Hospital Wing, surrounded by the Ravenclaw Quidditch team and a couple of her friends. She immediately saw Lisa, standing pale-faced in the backround, then Cho, who gave a loud sigh of relief.

Suddenly it hit her. _I fell off my broom. _She sat up quickly, causing her to quickly get dizzy again.

"You should lie down," Lisa advised her softly.

Ashling closed her eyes. Her nose scrunched up as her head felt as if it were about to split.

"I'm going to give you something that's going to cure that headache of yours, Ms. Connolly," Madame Pomfrey said, going over to Ashling and handing her a potion.

A couple of Ravenclaws started asking her if she was alright. "I'll be fine," she forced, while pinching her nose and drinking the flask of horrible-tasting orange liquid.

Suddenly she spotted Ron nearby, and he looked as if he had just fallen off of a broom himself. She immediately stopped drinking and put down the flask. "Ron!" she shrieked. "What happened?"

"I'm fine," he assured her, smiling softly, although it hurt his lips slightly because of Malfoy's punches. "Don't worry about me. I'm not the one in the hospital bed."

She forced a small smile and painfully finished the potion. "So what happened?" she asked.

"I managed to fix your left arm out on the field," said Madam Pomfrey.

"You landed right on it," added Cho.

"Because that asshole pushed you off your broom." Everyone thought it was Ron speaking about Malfoy, as the voice was so dark and dangerous, but they were surprised when they realized it was Lisa.

"Wha-- what?" gasped Ashling. She looked immediately to Ron, who's face suddenly turned stern.

"Malfoy pushed you off your broom. Well technically he made a bludger go your way and it hit you, but still," Ron supplied.

Tears began to streak down Ash's face. "Why?" she squeaked. _This whole time_, she thought, _it wasn't my fault. Someone tried to hurt me.  
_

"Because he's a bloody asshole who only cares about himself," Lisa grumbled.

Madam Pomfrey suddenly stood. "Alright, everyone out. She needs to rest," she said, making a face at the dirt brought in by the Quidditch players. "You can stay." She nodded in the direction of Lisa, Ron and Harry.

Once everyone had shuffled out, Harry moved closer to Ashling. "I'm sure he wasn't thinking straight, Ash. I don't think he meant to hit--"

"Of course he meant to hit her."

Harry resigned and sat back down.

Ashling asked her sister once more, this time in italian, "What happened?"

Lisa began explain everything from what she saw, in Italian.

Suddenly Harry saw a streak of platinum blond hair reappear in the small window in the Hospital Wing door. "Bloody hell," he muttered, just as Malfoy walked back through the door.

"Oh, no," said Madame Pomfrey, walking towards Draco. "Out you go."

"No, please, I came to--apologize," he said, turning to the hospital bed, "to Ashling."

"You've got to be joking me," Alyssa growled.

Madame Pomfrey stepped back, but stayed nearby.

"No, really." He walked over to her, going out of his way to stay a distance away from Ron. He sat down near her, not looking at Ron or Harry.

"I am-- _so_ so sorry," he said genuinely. "You don't have to forgive me, but...I don't know what came over me, my mind was-- preoccupied."

Ashling opened her mouth to speak but was cut off by Alyssa.

"By who you can torture next," Lisa hissed.

Draco looked up at Lisa with a tired expression on his face. "Lisa...I'm sorry. I truly am," he said sadly, followed by a snort from Ron.

Harry watched dumbstruck.

"You've got to be joking me," she repeated stubbornly.

"No," Ash said loudly, making everyone turn to face her. She stared blankly at Draco, who took a step closer to her. After glancing at Lisa, then back to Draco, she said softly, "It's alright. I believe you."

Ron's jaw dropped.

Lisa sighed heavily and made her way towards the door. "You should rest, Ash. I'll come see you later."

Draco apologized to Ashling once more, then left behind Lisa. Harry looked from Ron to Ashling then said nervously, "Well, I'll just leave you two alone. Feel better," he said cheerfully to Ashling.

"Thank you," she responded quietly.

Ron sighed heavily and went over and sat near her bed. "You should be okay within a couple of hours," he said.

She took in his words and said slowly, "What happened to you?"

"I told you not to worry about it..."

She placed a hand on his arm, then looked down at the bruise. Her hand then grazed his right temple, which was also in bad shape.

"What happened?" she repeated.

"I suppose Malfoy and I got into a bit of a brawl," he confessed.

"A...brawl?" she gasped. She pulled out her wand and pointed to a cut on his arm, making it slowly dissolve into his skin.

"Tsk, tsk," came Madame Pomfrey's voice from her office. "Leave that to me, Ms. Connolly," she said as she walked briskly over to Ron, then began to make the bruises disappear.

Ron continued to grumble.

"Where are you hurt, Weasley?" asked Madame Pomfrey impatiently.

"I dunno..."

"Come now, you'll thank me later," she responded, reducing the swelling on his eye.

"I think he hit me in the stomach..." he admitted sheepishly, blushing in Ash's direction.

"Remove your shirt, Weasley," she said, then added, "I'm sure your girlfriend won't mind," eying Ashling.

"She's not my girlfriend..." he muttered, taking off his shirt uneasily.

Ashling sat motionless, gasping at the bruise on his stomach. She muttered something in italian, trying to remain expressionless and failing. "Ron..." she whispered.

"What?"

She sensed that bringing up the fight would only cause conflict and bit her lip as she watched Madame Pomfrey work magic.

"Who won the match?" she asked after about a minute.

"I think you did," he answered. "Well, I mean... your team..."

"Oh," she replied, forcing a smile as Madame Pomfrey left the room. She paused. "Thank you," she said quietly.

"For what?" Ron asked confusedly.

"My sister told me... that you brought me here," she said, beginning to blush. "And that you were worried."

"Oh," he muttered, the tips of his ears turning red. "Well, mates get worried about each other when they fall off brooms, aye?" he asked.

She inched closer to him and wrapped her arms around him. She smiled at him, happy to be in his arms, and kissed him.

Ron was taken aback, but nonetheless, he kissed her back.

**Chapter 13**

Draco felt terrible, even more so to find that Alyssa had just left the Hospital Wing behind him. _Why did I poke a fight with Weasley?_ he asked himself resentfully.

He was dreading the moment she would start speaking to him.

Lisa walked quickly, not sure if she wanted to speak to Draco or not. She was really tired of feeling miserable because of him.

Blaise had suddenly turned into the corridor they were walking down. He squinted at Alyssa, then started jogging toward her. "Lisa!!" He went right up to her and gave her a tight hug. "I've been looking all over for you. How's your sister?"  
Draco slowed down to hear their conversation.

"She'll be fine," she replied, smiling at him and hugging him back.

"So, I was thinking. You wanna sneak out tonight and head on over to Hogsmeade? We can buy our outfits for this Saturday," he said with a sly smile.

She grinned at him. "Sure," she replied. "Sounds lovely."

"Wicked!" he exclaimed. "I was talking to Nott the other day and we found a way out, leading right into Hogs--"  
He heard a _thump_ and realized that Malfoy, who had his head turned sideways to hear them, had just walked straight into a wall several feet ahead.

Malfoy staggered backwards, spilling several books out of his bag. He glanced back to see if they were looking. The two of them were gawking at him.

"So dark down here," he shouted at them nervously, before gathering his books and darting out of sight.

"What the hell was that about?" she asked Blaise, looking back over at him.

"I dunno...they need to get more windows down here," he said stupidly. He then shook his head and grabbed her arm. "Let's go," he said, his eyes gleaming.

"Go where?" she asked confusedly. "We're not going until tonight..."

"Come on!" he exclaimed, pulling her by the arm and sprinting down the corridor. After a few minutes, they arrived at the statue of a one-eyed humpback witch.

"And what exactly are we doing here?" she asked him, cocking an eyebrow over at him.

"This," he said, opening the witch's hump, "is our ticket to Hogsmeade. After you, Lisa, dear," he said sweetly, beckoning her to enter.

She smiled at him and entered the pathway, before grabbing onto his hand and pulling him through as well. "You know," she began as they walked through the dark path, "you're sort of cute."

Blaise turned crimson. "You are too, Lisa. You know," he said, linking his arm with hers, "I'm really glad we're going to the ball together."

"Me too. I think we'll have fun." She smirked at him. "Especially afterwards."

Blaise turned an even darker shade of red and raised his eyebrows. "Afterwards?" he asked suggestively.

"Afterwards," she muttered. "I can give you a sneak preview if you like."

Blaise stopped in his tracks in the middle of the dark path. He gawked at Lisa, unsure of what she was capable of pulling next. "Um...wha-- what do you mean?" he stammered.

She smiled at him and pulled him close by his tie that he was still wearing before kissing him teasingly.

Blaise smiled and kissed her again, pulling her closer to him.

She kissed him back, nothing but lust running through her.

Blaise, elated, pulled back and whispered, "Let's go, it's not far from here," before holding her hand and continuing down the path, much slower than before.

She nodded and took his hand, lacing their fingers together and smiling at him.

Once they reached Honeydukes' cellar, he crept up the ladder and checked to see if anyone was coming. "The coast is clear," he said confidently, still overwhelmingly happy.

Lisa nodded and they snuck into the shop.

They walked casually out of the vacant store, given a strange look by the bartender. "Where to?" he asked once outside, breathing in the cold air.

"No idea. Wherever you want to go," she replied, winking at him.

"Okay," he responded, glancing around. "Let's go to Madam Maulkin's. Are you cold?" he said suddenly. He took off his sweater and handed it to her without waiting for a response.

She smiled at him in gratitude. Actually, she _had _been a little cold.

They head towards the shop, Blaise walking close to Alyssa. "What color do you want to wear?" he asked, appreciating the beauty of the setting sun.

"Um..." she began. "I dunno. What color do you think I should wear?"

"I think you'd look great in anything," he sighed, blushing.

"That doesn't help..."

"Fine, how about..." He glanced back up at the sky. "Red? Everyone will notice how gorgeous you'll be."

She couldn't help but blush slightly. "I don't want to stand out..."

"Oh," he said disappointedly. "Well, how about blue? Ravenclaw colors."

Lisa smiled slightly. "I was leaning that way... but there's so many different kinds..."

They walked into the shop, still discussing different options. They were greeted by a surprised Madam Maulkin.

**Chapter 14**

The next morning Alyssa went to visit Ashling in the Hospital Wing. She was grinning like crazy.

Ashling was sitting with her legs crossed next to Ron on her bed. He was holding her hand and she was trying to teach him how to conjugate verbs in Italian.

She went into a fit of giggles as Ron tried to roll his Rs.

"Hello!" she greeted cheerfully.

"Oh hi!" she exclaimed. Suddenly she seemed as if she had remembered something. She pointed at a vase full of colorful flowers on a nearby desk. "Courtesy of Draco Malfoy," she said happily.

Alyssa's good mood drained completely. She nearly gagged on the floor.

"What's wrong?" she asked, still giggling.

"Nothing. Why?"

"You looked so happy. Where'd you go last night?" she asked, still smiling broadly, tossing her a pack of Bertie Bott's.

"Hogsmeade."

"Hogsmeade?!" blurt out Ron, who was interrupted by Ashling.

"Who showed you?" she asked, knowing her sister did not know how to arrive.

"Blaise."

Ashling's jaw dropped. "Blaise Zabini? What happened to Draco?" she said quickly, disregarding Ron's presence.

"He can go screw himself."

Ron muttered something.

"Well," said Ashling, still in shock, "I hope you get along. You deserve to finally be happy," she said with a smile, before giving Ron a quick kiss.

"Aye, mate," he added.

"I don't know if me and Blaise are _anything. _He's just fun to be around."

"Well stay around him. I haven't seen you as happy as you were when you walked in for a long time," Ash responded serenely.

**Chapter 15**

Ashling quickly looked at the clock, then went back to fixing her hair. It was Saturday evening. "Where are you meeting Blaise?" she asked her sister, as she gave her wand a flick, causing sparkles to explode out of the tip and fall neatly into her hair.'

Lisa scrunched some of the curls into her hair and looked over at her sister. "Outside the Great Hall at..." She looked at the clock. "Shit. Right now..."

"Don't forget your shoes!" she yelled as Lisa made a run for the door.

"Thanks!" she exclaimed over her shoulder, running back and grabbing them and attempting to put them on before running down the steps and down to the Great Hall.

Ashling smiled at herself in the mirror, slipping on her black ball gown. She took a last glance at the clock, and zipped her dress up quickly, realizing she was supposed to have met Ron by the library five minutes ago. She quickly fixed her makeup with her wand once more before leaving the common room.

Blaise glanced calmly at his watch. He began to hear some music playing behind him, inside the Great Hall.

Lisa came sprinting into view, midnight blue fabric flying at her heels. Her pin-straight black hair was pulled up in an elegant knot at the top of her head, with the exception of a few curls that framed her face. She nearly ran into Blaise, but he thankfully steadied her. "Sorry I'm late," she muttered, holding a stitch at her side to catch her breath.

Blaise ignored her apology. "You look absolutely beautiful," he said breathlessly.

She blushed slightly at his compliment. "You look pretty nice yourself, there, mate," she said, taking him in. He was wearing a traditional muggle suite, with a pair of black dress pants, a white shirt, a black vest, a black jacket and tie.

Blaise thanked her and ran a hand through his hair before offering her his arm. She took it gladly and they entered the Great Hall.

Ashling held her strapless black ball gown up an inch off the ground as she walked, careful not to tread on it. She quickly brushed her curls off of her shoulder before turning a corridor to see Ron pacing in front of the library doors. She walked towards him effortlessly, thankful that she could walk in heels. Ron heard her heels clicking when she was about twenty feet away, and turned around.

Ron, who was pacing in front of the library doors, turned when he saw the clicking of heels. His breath and heart nearly stopped when he saw Ashling, his beautiful girlfriend, walking towards him wearing a strapless black ball gown that accented her curves magnificantly. "I...er...you..." he began, the tips of his ears turning red. "Wow."

Ashling hugged him and smiled, the light making her hazel eyes sparkle. "You look so handsome," she said happily.

He held her waist before kissing her softly. "Thanks," he muttered, pulling apart from her and offering her his arm. "Shall we, milady?"

She giggled and took his arm as they both walked towards the Great Hall.

Ron opened the door to the Great Hall, and Ash thanked him and walked through. She then took his arm again and they walked towards Lisa and Blaise, the first familiar faces they saw.

"Hi," Ash said to them both. "You look nice, Blaise."

Blaise smiled at Ash. "Thanks, so do you," he replied, wrapping an arm around Lisa's waist.

"You make a cute couple," she commented, just as an upbeat song started to play.

Lisa blushed slightly and felt Blaise's arm around her tighten. "Let's dance," he whispered in her ear. She nodded and the two of them made their way out to the dance floor.

"Come on," Ash shouted to Ron over the music as she grabbed his hand and pulled him near Lisa and Blaise. They passed Cho on the way, who complimented them, but it was unheard over the music.

They danced most of the night, and about halfway through the ball, Blaise had taken off his jacket and vest and had loosened his tie. Lisa's hair had come down.

Suddenly the lights stopped flashing and a slow song came on. Ashling smiled as Ron put his hands around her waist, putting hers around his shoulders.

Pansy was telling Draco something, but he kept tuning out and glancing at Lisa, who was a couple of feet away. He led Pansy over to them, hoping to be able to at least address Lisa without a fight.

Blaise was whispering something into Lisa's ear, and although she heard his voice, she didn't hear her words. Her eyes were locked on Draco and Pansy, as they had been for almost half the night. "Lisa?" Blaise asked. She looked at him. "Are you alright?" She nodded. "I'm fine."

Draco led Pansy over to Lisa and Blaise. He tried to look surprised as he said, "Oh look, there's Lisa!" Pansy watched in shock as Draco pulled her tighter to him while getting Lisa's attention.

Lisa glared at Draco and Pansy, especially as Draco pulled Pansy closer to him. She glared, before doing the same thing to Blaise. _Let the games begin.  
_

"Oh, hey Lisa! Didn't see you there," said Draco with a false sweetness.

She rolled her eyes and turned her attention to Blaise, pretending to ignore their exsistance.

Draco, knowing that Lisa was not going to look back at them but nonetheless could see him, started to flirt mercilessly with Pansy, no objection from her. He brought his forehead to touch hers, before pecking her on the lips.

Lisa, who was watching them through the corner of her eyes, cringed when he kissed her. She did the same thing to Blaise, except that it was a little more than a peck.

Draco's insides turned at Lisa's sign of affection towards Blaise. He brought Pansy very close to him, and kissed her a bit more deeply.

She smiled into the kiss, and they were soon wrapped in an intense snogging session, Blaise's hands running up and down her body.

Draco stood appalled for a good minute before Pansy got his attention. Although he could not say he felt anything like a boyfriend to her, he was 100% determined to get back at Lisa. She put her arms around him, and they started to kiss, just as intensely as Blaise and Lisa were.

As the song ended, Ashling said into Ron's ear, "Do you want to go get a drink?"

Ron nodded. "Yeah, you go find a table and I'll go get some drinks. Do you want anything?"

"A glass of water, please," she said, smiling, before giving him a quick kiss and going to find a table.

Most tables were occupied by people she did not know. She took great relief in finding Harry, Neville and a couple of Ron's friends, and went over to them, knowing Ron would want to sit with them.  
"Hey, are you guys enjoying yourselves?" she asked sweetly.

Harry nodded. "Yeah, I am, actually. What the hell is up with your sister, though?" he asked, pointing over to where Lisa and Blaise were still snogging. "They've been like that for the past five minutes."  
Neville sighed. "And what about you and Ron, Ash? I thought I saw you kiss him..."

"Oh," she exclaimed, blushing. She looked at her sister and scowled. "Well _she's_ been acting weird lately. But Ron and I are okay, thanks," she added happily, her cheeks deepening into a dark shade of pink.

"I think you're _more _than okay," Harry remarked, grinning at her. "Are you two dating?"

"Well...yes," she said, returning his grin. "It was very sweet of him to stay with me in the Hospital Wing, and take care of me like that..."

Ron came back to the table and handed Ash her glass of water. "Hey, mates."

"Thanks," she said, kissing him quickly, turning crimson to be in front of his friends.

"Hey, Ronniekins, I'm so glad you finally have a girl," Harry teased him. "Why didn't you tell me??"  
Ron glared at him. "I dunno. It sort of just happened..."

"Stop it," she said to Harry with a laugh, placing an arm around Ron, but glanced back at her sister, concerned.

Harry smiled and looked over at Lisa as well. "Do you know what could be bothering her?"

"Oh, I have a pretty good idea of what's bothering her," she replied knowingly.

"And what would that be?" Ron questioned, smiling at the arm that was wrapped around him.

"Well, her and Draco were doing really well, then not so well...then really well again...I've lost track, but it seems they're not doing too well again." She paused. "But I know she loves him."

"_What_?!" Harry exploded. "You've got to be JOKING me. How could she LOVE him?"

"He's not _that_ bad...I mean, no one is pure evil besides you-know-who, right?" she replied, glancing up at Ron.

Ron shrugged. "I don't know... what could she _possibly _see in him?"

"Beats me," she said, smiling at everything she saw in Ron.

"What?" he asked, noticing the way she was smiling at him.

"Nothing...I was just thinking that he's got nothing on you," she said with a sly smile, before pulling him down and kissing him again.

"Ugh, gross!! Too much PDA!" Harry exclaimed.

"What's PDA?" she asked, after breaking apart from Ron.

"Public Display of Affection??"

"Well, maybe we need more of _that _in the world," she said to Harry, then mumbled something in Italian.

Harry rolled his eyes and looked back over at Lisa, who had _finally _stopped snogging Blaise and was now glaring at Draco and Pansy.

Blaise was catching his breath, noticing that Lisa's attention was completely captured by Draco and Pansy. "Uhh...you okay?" he asked her.

"Yeah, of course. Why?"

"I dunno...are you and Draco fighting or something? I mean," he added frantically, realizing what he had just said. "I know you just broke up but I thought you guys were okay."

Lisa narrowed her eyes at him. "Broke up?" she asked. "What're you talking about, Blaise? We weren't really ever _together. _And, um, we always fight. We're hardly ever '_okay_'."

"Oh," he said, even though he hadn't understood a word she had just said. He remained content with the idea that she had wanted to spend her night with him. "So," he said, looking at his watch. "Do you wanna go out after this, or do you have plans...?"

"We could go out if you want," she replied. "By the lake, or something, you know."

"Sounds wicked," he exclaimed, looking forward to it.

"Whatever you want," she whispered.

He pulled her closer to him for another slow dance. Slowly the ball ended, and people began to leave.

Isabel MacDougal walked briskly past the Lisa, saying quickly, "Party in the Room of Requirement!" but Lisa had already made her way for the door.

Draco pulled Pansy by the hand until he caught up with Lisa. "So, have an event-filled night planned?" he said with a fake smirk.

"And you'd care... why?"

Draco dramatically frowned. "Well...because I _care_, Connolly."

"Uh huh. Sure you do."

"If I didn't, would I be asking you?"

"I dunno. Maybe to make me jealous if I didn't have an event-filled night planned, and you did? I mean, that's all you've been doing all night..." _Crap. _"I mean, um..."

"_Ahhhhhhhh_," he exhaled, taking pleasure in knowing that his plan had worked. "Well, I suppose you were _trying_ to make me jealous as well?" he added, nodding in Blaise's direction.

"And why the hell would I want to make _you _jealous? I don't even like you." _I love you.  
_

Draco's smile vanished. He was now both angry that he had been told that he wasn't liked and that Lisa was being dishonest with him. "Let's go, Pansy," he said fiercely, pulling her out of the Great Hall and disappearing.

Lisa sighed heavily.

Ashling passed Lisa, hand-in-hand with Ron. "Hey," she said, giggling, as she tapped her on the shoulder. "We're going to the party in the Room of Requirement. Are you coming?"

"I don't think so," she muttered. "I'm really in a _party _mood."

"Well, Fred and George smuggled in Firewhiskey from Hogsmeade," she muttered, "but don't spread it. Will you come by later?" she pleaded.

"I think I'm just going to go to bed or something..."

"Fine," she replied, defeated. She and Ron followed a group of Gryffindors out of the Great Hall.

Blaise walked up to Lisa and linked arms with her from behind. "Shall we go?" he asked dramatically.

She nodded. "Yeah. I need to get out of here."

Blaise led her out of the school. Once outside, he breathed the cool air in sharply, noting that it was colder than he expected it to be.

"You alright?" she asked, cocking an eyebrow at him.

"Yeah, I'm fine," he said, embarrassed at his weak show of character. He took off his sweater and offered it to her. "Are you cold?"

She nodded slightly, before taking his sweater and pulling it over her dress. "Thanks," she muttered.

They walked over to the large willow tree by the lake and sat down underneath it. "I'm having a really good time," he said honestly. "I didn't think I'd be coming to the ball with anyone until you asked me."

She smiled briefly. "I'm glad you're enjoing yourself," she muttered, enjoying the fact of having his arms wrapped around from behind her as she sat in between his legs with his knees up slightly.

"Are you enjoying yourself?" he asked, kissing her softly on the head.

"Yeah," she whispered, snuggling up to him a bit. _Not really.  
_

"Good," he replied, sliding down until he was next to her. He kissed her slowly and deeply, holding hands with her.

She kissed him back, lacing their fingers together.

They continued to snog for several minutes.

She pulled apart a few minutes later, slightly flushed. She knew what she was doing was wrong. "Blaise, I, um..."

"What is it, love?" he asked her sweetly, stroking her hair.

I, um, we... can't... shouldn't... be... doing this?"

He sat up abruptly. "Wha-- what?"

"I just.... I don't know...."

"What don't you know?" he asked, trying not to sound angry.

She bit her lip. "I dunno..." she muttered hopelessly.

"Does this have anything to do with Draco?" he said firmly.

"No..." Even though she wasn't too sure how convincing she sounded.

"No," he repeated, before sitting with his back against the tree. He looked out onto the lake, his arms crossed.

"I dunno... I'm just... really... confused..."

"Yeah, well I'm bloody confused too, now."

"Sorry..."

"Don't be," he said, trying to look friendly. He stood up, extending a hand to help her stand.

She took his hand in hers.

"Shall I take you to your common room?" he sighed.

"I, um... yeah, sure, thanks..."

He walked her to the Gryffindor tower, both of them silent the entire time.

"Blaise..."

"Yeah?" he responded quickly.

"I, um, really am sorry..."

"Nah, don't be. I expected too much of you."

"But I shouldn't be..." she broke off, thinking that she might've gone too far.

"You shouldn't be what?" he asked softly.

She shook her head. "Nothing. Never mind."

"No, what?"

"Nothing. Don't worry about it."

"Alright," he said uneasily, shuffling his feet. "Well, good night." He hesitated, then gave her a quick hug.

She hugged him back and pecked him on the lips before giving the password and disappeared into the common room.

**Chapter 15**

Lisa was sitting in the Ravenclaw common room for _quite _some time, wallowing in self pity of the whole Draco/Blaise thing. It wasn't like she couldn't even play with his mind anymore, to make him see what he was missing -- to get him to go to her. But was he even worth it anymore? She sighed. A distraction was what she needed. She needed to get away from these thoughts of hers. "Fuck this, I need a drink," she grumbled, standing up, still in her dress that I can't remember the color of. The fabric smoothed itself over, and as she was wondering where she could find herself some alcohol, she remembered the party in the Room of Requirement, and decided to trekk down there.

The door of the Room of Requirement swung open with such awesome force that several heads turned, thinking a furious Professor was about to hex half the people in the room. Instead, they found a sulky Lisa trying to make her way through the crowd.

The Weird Sisters could be heard blasting throughout the room. It was a wonder that no one had already broken up the party.

Ash was sitting on Ron's lap by a bright green couch, both of them laughing hysterically.

Neville passed Lisa and handed her a fairly small bottle.

Lisa smiled slightly at the bottle Neville had passed her, opening it and downing it in two seconds, tossing the bottle aside, not feeling the slightiest bit better. She went over to Ashling and her little, stupid, redhaired _boyfriend_. Not that she really had a problem with them... she was just kind of sort of pissed off now. It came with the sulkiness. "It won't last, you know," she said grungingly.

Ashling continued to laugh, not the least bit bothered by her sister's remark. "Hey Lisa! Have you tried the firewhisky?"

"Oh, yeah. Working like a fucking charm," she snapped, although she didn't feel the slightest buzz at all.

Ash frowned as a small child would. "Watch your mouth, Lisa," she said haltingly, as she gave her her cup.

"Kind of hard to watch my mouth when my eyes are at the top of my face."

Ashling gave her a look, then saw someone across the room. She shouted at Cho started towards her, pulling Ron behind him.

Harry passed by the couch, looking bored. His facial expression completely changed at spotting Lisa. "Hey, I didn't see you get here!" he bellowed over the music, as he sat down next to her.

"Yeah, well, I'm here all right," she snapped, grabbing a bottle of Firewhiskey, and despite its spicey taste, downed half the bottle.

"Whoa, take it easy there," he said, alarmed, as he viewed the bottle. "That stuff will mess you up." He paused. "I'm surprised your sister is still standing."

"I have more endurance than she does," she assured him, finishing the bottle and only then feeling the slightest bit dizzy.

Harry took the bottle from her and set it on a nearby table. "Well, I'm not going to tell you how much to drink," he mumbled, glancing around. "So... where's Blaise?"

"Who the fuck cares."

"Oh....alright," he said, startled, not wanting to pry. Then a thought occurred to him. "Are you alright?" he spat out, obviously having horrifying thoughts.

"Picture perfect, Potter."

Harry forced a laugh and tried to discard his previous thoughts. He looked around again, not knowing what to say next. He didn't want to touch a nerve as he had evidently already done.

She looked over at her sister and her boyfriend and nearly wanted to gag. "This was a mistake. I need to get the fuck out of here," she grumbled.

Harry glanced over to the other side of the room, to see what had bothered Lisa so much. As soon as he found Ashling, the sight had disturbed him a bit, too. Ron was snogging her as she wrapped herself tightly around him. He forced his attention back to Lisa, who was now standing up. "Do you wanna go take a walk?" he asked her quickly. "I have nothing to do, and we could go break into something," he proposed, grinning. "Are you up for it?"

"Not really, Potter. I'm tired. I'm just gonna go back and... try... to sleep..."

"Oh, alright," he said, slightly concerned. "Well, I do hope you feel better."

"I'm totally fine," she replied. "No need to worry."

**Chapter 16**

Ashling corrected herself. Her mind began to wander as she thought about Ron and upcoming Hogsmeade trips...but she reprimanded herself and tried hard to pay attention to Snape, as difficult a task as that was for her. She wished she was in Potions instead. She realized she was a page behind, and flipped to the next section lazily, noticing that Lisa was listening attentively. _What a surprise,_ she thought.

Although Lisa was listening attentively, as Defense Against the Dark Arts was her favorite subject, she was finding it extremely difficult to. Especially considering the fact that they shared this class with the Slytherins. When Professor Snape said something about pairing up and getting swords, she got _really _excited, and almost forgot about the previous night.

"Alyssa Connolly. Draco Malfoy. You're paired up."

_I hate that man. _"I assume you know what you're doing, Malfoy?" she asked as she crossed blades with him.

"On the contrary, Connoly," he replied with a grin. "I am very skilled in the art of sword fighting. I only hope that you don't maim me."

"Oh, don't worry," she said with a smirk. "If anything, I'll just kill you right here." Then she lunged and made an attack, before waiting for Snape's whistle, nor caring that she didn't wait for it.

Draco, taken by surprise, blocked Lisa's attack with some difficulty. Snape could be heard protesting angrily in the backround, but he did not care. He walked backwards, clashing his sword with hers, until his back was against a table.

She smirked slightly -- the sound of two swords clashing together one of her favorite sounds in the world. Some called her sadistic. Others called her obsessed. She went to attack his chest, stepping a little closer so that his back was against the table harder than before.

Draco blocked her attack, fearing for a fraction of a second that Lisa would actually kill him. He then shook this thought out of his mind and winced, realizing the sharp pain in his lower back was the table.

"Oh come on, Malfoy. I thought you were stronger than this," she chided. "Or is it just the shock of seeing a girl behind a sword -- a girl who could, in fact, _kill you_ that makes you weak? Or maybe you're just weak in general."

"Or maybe you're full of yourself," he said forcefully as he pushed his sword against hers hard, causing Lisa to take several steps backwards. Draco suddenly noticed as he moved that the entire class was surrounding them.

"Maybe you're just afraid that I'm right," she snapped, regaining her balance from when she had to stagger back as she moved her sword to make contact with his left arm.

Draco gasped loudly, feeling a surge of pain in his arm. He glanced down at it quickly, but decided that he would rather suffer than look weak, especially in front of Lisa. He fought on, simply wasting time and losing blood, for he knew that as much as he could sword fight with her or tease her, he would never bring himself to physically hurt her.

"Miss Connolly, Mr. Malfoy! That's quite enough!" Professor Snape exclaimed.

She ignored him. "You're joking me, right, Malfoy?" she asked as she dodged numerous attacks from him. "I told you that I could kill you. Maybe you should believe me next time," she replied as she attacked him several times, eventually causing them both to fall on the floor, her on top of him, her swored underneath his chin.

"Kill me," he breathed quietly so that only Lisa would hear. "If it's what you want, then kill me." Draco had such a look of complete resignation on his face that Lisa stared back at him blankly.

"Miss Connolly, that's quite _enough_!" he exclaimed, running over and yanking her away from Draco. That scene was absolutely _absurd_! She was about to bloody-well kill the boy! "Mr. Malfoy, please get to the Hospital Wing to see Madame Pomfrey about that gash. It shouldn't take long to heal. Miss Connolly, please escort him."

"You're joking me, Professor. I almost kill the boy and you want me to _escort him to the Hospital Wing_?!"

"Do as I say, Miss Connolly, or I will see you in detention this evening."

She grumbled profanities under her breath before stalking out of the room.

Draco had not once looked at Professor Snape. His gaze remained on Lisa for a few seconds after Snape had spoken and he had stood up before he remembered the sharp pain in his arm. He looked down at his arm and almost exclaimed as he realized that the most part of his sleeve was drenched in blood. He left his books behind and walked out of the classroom without waiting for Lisa.

"I would've done it, you know," she mumbled. "Be lucky that Snape saved your arse. Or you'd be dead right now." She wasn't quite sure why she was so angry at him... but she was. She was _so _angry.

Draco walked briskly down the corridor, ready to ignore every comment Lisa was about to make. He pulled up his sleeve and pressed on the wound, causing more blood to ooze out of his muscular arm. He was surprised; the wound was much deeper than he thought. And all the while he wondered if she should have killed him.

She sighed heavily as they walked in an awkward silence. She had to break it, but she wasn't about to apologize. "How's the skankwhore?"

Why didn't you kill me when you had the chance?" he said sharply, ignoring her attempt at conversation.

"Because then I would've regretted it later. And I don't believe in regret." She walked faster, trying to avoid walking next to him.

Draco suddenly stopped in the middle of the corridor, watching as the blood dripping from his arm began to stain his robes. Unsure of what to do, he pressed on the wound again, harder, causing him to inhale sharply.

She stopped and turned around, her expression suddenly much softer. "You okay?"

"Do I look alright to you?" he responded, his tone suggesting that he was not referring to his physical state.

Lisa sighed. "Come on, the faster we get you to the Hospital Wing, the better off you'll be."

Draco began down the corridor again, this time holding his arm. He began to wonder if Madam Pomfrey really would be able to fix his wound, and how much longer he would have to go unattended before something serious happened to him.

They eventually reached the Hopsital Wing, Lisa gave the explanation, and Madame Pomfrey did a few quick healing spells.

"You may need to rest here a bit, Mr. Malfoy. Miss Connolly, you may stay here with him."

Draco looked quickly at Lisa, prepared to excuse her in case she wanted to leave. He hoped she wouldn't, but then again, he did not feel up to arguing.

"Thanks," she muttered, before situating herself over at a chair far away, so that he could have the bed.

"I'll be in my office if you need anything." And with that, she exited.

Draco paused in thought for a moment, watching Madam Pomfrey. He then walked over to the bed Lisa was nearest to and sat down. He made sure that he remained seated and did not lie down; he had already made a fool of himself in the classroom, dripping with blood, and was not about to make himself look weak.

She stared at him for a few moments before looking out of the window, a piece of stray hair falling out of her ponytail. She was never good with apologies. Besides, _he _should apologize to _her _first. Right?

"Why didn't you kill me when you had the chance," he repeated, softly. He stared into her deep eyes and wondered what was on her mind.

"Too many witnesses, and I didn't want to go to jail," she replied, as though it were obvious.

He disregarded her joke and broke their stare. He now forced his attention to his arm, looking for scars.

Things were awkward. She didn't like it when things were awkward.

"You looked beautiful at the ball," he said quietly, determined not to look at her.

"Whatever," she mumbled, although she found herself blushing and wanting to say _thanks.  
_

"When does class end?" he asked, trying to change the subject. "I left my books."

"When the bell rings?"

"Right..." he muttered. Now he was stuck. He had no idea what to say. _Tell her that you love her_, a small voice inside him said. He felt like getting off the bed and hugging her, no matter what anyone thought.

She looked over at him. "I should get going..."

"Yeah," he said quickly. "I'll-- erm-- see you around, Lisa." He braced himself for a reprimand for using her first name.

"Yeah. Um... later," she said awkwardly, before leaving the Hospital Wing.

**Chapter 17**

Ashling was sitting on a couch in the Ravenclaw Common Room, trying to avoid conversation with Cho. She was very distracted by the scene her sister had caused in Defense Against the Dark Arts. Just as she was hoping that Draco was alright, Lisa walked into the room. Ashling almost stood up, ready to yell at her.

"What?" she asked, continuing her walk up to the girls dormitories. She was going to need a shower.

"How's Draco?" Ashling spat impatiently.

"He'll be fine," she replied with a sigh.

"Thank God," she responded, then paused. "WHAT WERE YOU THINKING?!" she shouted. "You could have gotten yourself KILLED!"

"Actually, he could've gotten himself killed," she corrected her.

"All the same, it was COMPLETELY irresponsible and FOOLISH to take a stupid sword fight to such a point!" she shouted angrily. Isabel watched them attentively from a nearby couch. "Are you happy now that you almost killed him?" she hissed in Italian.

"Definitely. Would've liked it better if I actually killed him," she hissed back in Italian. "Then the only guy I've ever loved will be dead. Wouldn't that be _splendid_?"

Ashling was about to swear at her when Cho thought it would be her place to break up their argument.  
"Um...Ash? Lisa? Please, please, please don't forget to come to Quidditch practice tomorrow night, it's very important that we perfect our strategies if we're going to win against Gryffindor."

"Yeah, whatever," she snapped. "I'm going to take a shower."

Ashling stared after Alyssa, waiting until she left the room to close her eyes and finally curse in Italian under her breath. She was practically talking to herself when she finally felt that Cho was still there. She opened her eyes quickly and addressed her. "What?"

Cho suddenly sprung back to life. "Ah--nothing," she responded before Ash started up the stairs.

"Come to yell at me some more?" she asked as she gathered her things to go into the bathroom. _This is why I've always wanted a boy twin.  
_

"Did you make up with Malfoy yet?" she asked blankly.

"Not exactly."

"Well get to it, he looks like he can barely stand," she said, hoping her sister would finally tell Draco how she felt.

"I told you that he was going to live, for Merlin's sake!"

She rolled her eyes at Lisa's comment. "Schema. I meant he actually looks..." she paused to fish around for the word. "...imcomplete without you."

"Well, too bad for him."

"Too bad for you, too." She was then struck with what she thought was the most brilliant idea she had had in a long time.

**Chapter 18**

Lisa was in Astronomy, ready to fall asleep when the bell rang. Everyone ran out of the tower so they could get some sleep, but she waited for Draco. She wanted to apologize to him. A loud clang ensued, and she realized that his telescope and things had tipped over. Lisa went over to help him.

Ashling rolled her eyes, but waited for Alyssa. She was beginning to wonder what she was waiting for when Ron came up from behind her and offered to carry her books. "You're so sweet," she said, kissing him. "But I'm waiting for Alyssa."

"I'll wait for you, then," he remarked, wrapping his arms around her.

"Do you need help?" she asked quietly... cautiously.

Draco looked up at her. "Sure," he replied monotonously, as he gathered the lenses that had flown in all different directions.

She helped him gather his lenses and helped him put them back on the telescope. "Listen, I..."

"No, it's alright, it was my fault," he said quickly, attaching the mount back onto its tripod.

"You mean that you're saying that my almost killing you was your fault?"

"I shouldn't have fought you, that was a pretty cowardly thing to do." He picked up the eyepiece and peered through it. "Damn," he said sharply, noticing that it had cracked severely and was beyond repair.

"When are you going to remember that you're in the wizarding world?" she shook her head and took out her wand. "_Reparo!_" It was instantly fixed. She smiled smugly. "I still would've almost killed you."

"Would've, maybe should've..." he paused. He gazed at her for a few seconds, then threw the focuser into his bag. "I'm going to have to fix this later." He folded his telescope and began for the door, waiting for Lisa.

"Come ON, Lisa," shouted Ashling, who was still by the door with Ron.

She took out her wand, although she was half-smirking. "I could kill you now..."

He put down his bag and threw his arms in the air. Ron shouted something indistinctly. "Do you want to see me dead?" Draco responded, watching his breath form a small and very white cloud in front of him.

"Do you want me to see you dead?"

"Well, I suppose then you'll stop trying to kill me," he said, taking out his own wand.

"Then I suppose you should stop trying to kill me," she replied. "Ash, you guys can go."

"Alright, I'll see you in Charms," she shouted back. Ron stepped in front of her to suavely open the door for her. This move made him fall backwards when the heavy door did not open.

"Oh my gosh!" Ash exclaimed. "Are you alright?" she asked, rushing to his side to offer him an arm.

He took her arm. "I don't know..." he grumbled, before pulling her down with him. "I think I'm a little better now, though." He grinned up at her.

She sighed back at him and raised her wand. "_Alohomora!_" she shouted. Ron tried the door again, more cautiously this time. He tried to hide a look of fright when he turned around to look at her.

He stood up painfully. "Why are you trying to open the door?"

Ashling loved Ron to death but sometimes the things he said made her gape back at him.

He shrugged.

Draco suddenly made a beeline for the door. "_Alohomora!_" he shouted, then put his full weight and strength into pulling on the door.

She shook her head. "If _Alohomora _isn't going to work, do you really thing YOU'RE going to make it work?"

This only made Draco pull harder at the door. Finally he resigned. "Don't tell me we're bloody stuck here."

"Why should we tell you when you already know?"

"It's bloody FREEZING here! THAT'S why!" he stomped angrily to the edge of the tower and peered over it.

She snuck up behind him and put her hands on his back, as if to push him over. "Careful. Wouldn't want to fall over."

"Are those two ever going to get along?"

"I don't know," Ash said, trying to force a laugh. But she was worried and unable to hide the expression.

He wrapped his arm around her and pulled her close to him, while watching Lisa and Malfoy in some sick amusement.

"WHAT are you THINKING?! Finish me off NOW? You have me at bladepoint for several seconds and decide to push me off a tower instead?!" Draco was now wondering how long they would remain undiscovered.

"It's more painful for you that way," she replied. "I was joking, though, chill out."

"CHILL OUT? Let's reassess." He sat down angrily. "I am stuck on the Astronomy tower. We have no owls," he pointed to a finger, "no means of warmth," he touched another, "and I'm stuck with none other than the Connollys and a Weasley. Have I left anything out?"

She rolled her eyes. "We have our _wands_, Malfoy."

Draco looked like he could kiss her.

She rolled her eyes. "Ash, you feel like sending some sparks off?"

Ashling pointed at the middle of the tower and flicked her wand. A fairly large blue-white flame erupted from the ground. "It'll last two hours, then you have to make it again."

She nodded and stared in disgust as Ron went over and cuddled with her sister.

The four of them sat around the fire. A minute or so passed before Ashling spoke up. "Do you think it will rain?" she said as she glanced up at the sky looking terrified.

She smiled. "I hope so," she muttered, looking up at the sky thoughtfully.

"Nah, it won't."

"You HOPE so?" she practically shrieked. "It's about 20 degrees outside," she shouted in Italian, "we're in the middle of November, its 1 in the morning and you HOPE so?! Draco's not enough, you want to us to die too, now?!"

"No. I just like the rain."

"We'll freeze," she said in English. "We're going to freeze."

"Isn't _anyone _optmistic around here?"

Draco grinned. "_I_, for one, think it's a _lovely_ night out."

"Okay that was a little too optmistic."

"You asked."

She rolled her eyes. "You're impossible," she replied, strutting to the other side of the tower.

Draco followed her. "Are you cold?" he asked.

"I'm fine."

"You sure?" he said, ready to offer her his sweater.

And while she really wanted to take it-- "You're the one who's almost died twice in two days. You need it more than I do."

"Oh, no," he said chuckling. He took off his sweater and forced it at her. "You take it."

She sighed and took it, throwing it on. She couldn't deny the warm/fuzzy/comfy feeling it gave her. "Thanks," she mumbled.

**Chapter 19**

About an hour later, Lisa was getting bored of sitting in the Astronomy tower, watching her sister cuddle with Ron and occasionally get into a snogging-fest, leaving her and Draco feeling awkward... well, at least she felt awkward. She didn't know/care how he felt. _You're such a terrible liar.  
_

Ron really didn't mind all that much, being stuck in the Astronomy tower with Ashling. He loved the feeling of her body being so close to his, holding her in his arms... _just everything about her, _he thought. _She's so beautiful.  
_

Draco had gotten distracted and suddenly found himself watching how different Ron acted around Ashling. He realized that he was staring and shook his head, turning his gaze to Lisa.  
"So..." he started, fishing around for a topic of discussion. "How are you doing in Potions?"

"Terrible. Does that make you happy?"

"Of course not," he broke off, and stood in silence for a moment. "I could help you out, if you wanted me too," he added quickly.

She glanced up at him. "And why would I want _your _help?"

"Well, if you're doing _terrible_, and I'm not...I could help you...This is how tutoring sessions work," he added exasperated.

"I'm not stupid, I know that. I'm not saying why would I want _help. _Why would I, Alyssa Connolly, want **YOUR **help?"

"Oh, I'm sorry," he replied with a smirk. "I forgot; you're STUBBORN. You're a Connolly, and you can't accept that you need help." He leaned against the edge of the tower and crossed his arms.

Ash ignored Ron for a minute. "Wait, are you saying that _just _because I'm a Connolly, I can't accept help?!"

"No. I just don't need YOUR help!"

Ashling sensed another fight. "Lisa, he's trying to help you--"

"I don't need his help!"

"Merlin, you Connolly's are stubborn as hell..."

Ashling looked sharply at Ron. "What?! Where is this coming from, Ron?!" She stood up and took a step back from him. "I can't believe you're classifying me!"

"I'm not!! I'm sorry, I just meant..."

"No, Ron," she said in a shrilly voice, practically tearing. "If you agree with Draco, then that's fine. But I never would have believed it of you." She walked to the edge of the tower and peered over the side. Deciding that it was too far up, she slouched against the wall and slid to the floor, angrily tearing a tie out of her hair and letting it loose.

He went over to her. "Ashling, I... no... I didn't mean it...I..."

"What, Ron?! Is there anything else you need to tell me?!"

"No!! I'm sorry..."

Ash started to tear furiously. "Maybe we should stop seeing each other for a while. I feel like I'm not myself anymore," she said carefully, noticing that both Lisa and Draco were gaping at her.

"Are--are you joking me, Ash?? Over a stupid little disagreement??"

She closed her eyes and looked away. "I'm not feeling like myself," she repeated. "It's like I see everything from a new perspective, and it's bad...even brewing up a Potion doesn't make me smile anymore." She quickly patted her tears away and looked up at him. "I'm sorry," she whispered.

"Ashling..." he whispered, taking a step closer. "That's why I'm here. I'm here for you."

"I don't want to bring you into this, Ronald, please don't make me."

"Into what?"

"I have enough problems as it is, I don't have to worry about you worrying about me too..."

"But I'm going to no matter what, Ash... please..."

"I'm sorry, Ronald," she gasped, and backed even further away from him.

"What are you saying??"

"It's over!" she yelled, surprised at herself for being able to cut off their relationship. "It's over."

"W....what?"

She couldn't stand it any longer. She got up and went to stand next to her sister, crying and displaying clear anguish.

Ashling was speaking Italian, so that Draco and Ron wouldn't understand, and Draco was happily reminded that their language sounded so musically beautiful.

Alyssa was responding in Italian, and hugged her sister gently and tried to calm her down.

Ron stared and couldn't believe that she had just broken up with him like that! Over nothing!

Draco decided that he should stay away from the twins while they ... sorted out their ... dilemma. He occupied himself with getting them off the Astronomy tower. _The sooner, the better_, he thought. He took out his wand and closed his eyes in concentration, then waved it around several times to no effect, followed by a few words that did not belong to the Latin language.

Suddenly, Draco's face lit up and he leaped about three feet into the air. He stood up straight, pointed his wand in the opposite direction, and said loudly, with a grin, "_Accio Broom!_"

Seconds later they began to hear a whizzing sound coming towards them. There was a broom clearly flying straight for Draco. He extended his arm and caught it with ease, holding it proudly. The group was gaping at him, but no one dared say a word.

Ashling picked up her bag, and clumsily dropped it with a hiccup.

_Why didn't I think of that? _"The four of us aren't going to fit on that thing."

"OB-viously. Two, at the most, I'd say." He glanced around. "What do you think, Lisa?"

"About what?"

He sighed heavily. "I'll go get help," he said, slightly defeated, as he mounted his broom.

"Or..." she began, thinking rapidly. Then, stealing Draco's idea because she _could, _she stuck her wand out the window. "_Accio Broom!_"

"Oh, no," he said, grinning. "Stealing my idea, Connolly?"

"With pleasure," she said simply as her broom came towards them. She handed it to Ron and Ashling. "Listen, I know you're not too happy... but the weight will need to balance out. You two share mine, and I guess I'll share with Malfoy."

Ashling stared at the broom and sighed heavily as she bent down and gathered her things into her bag.

"I'll protect you," he muttered before getting on the broom. "Come on. Get on behind me and grab my waist so you don't fall."

"Alright, Draco, are you gonna stand around all day or get on the broom?"

Ashling slid her bag onto her back and climbed carefully onto the broom. Sulkily, she placed her arms slowly around Ron's waist, shuddering as she reprimanded herself for what she had done. _But there's no other way,_ she thought.

Ron couldn't help but smile, but he had his back to Ashling, knowing she wouldn't see it. "Alright. It's gonna be a sharp dive. Ready?"

"I'm never ready," she responded. "Do it."

He nodded and kicked off, flying carefully out of the window and down towards the ground.

Ashling gasped and held onto Ron more tightly. She closed her eyes as she remembered suddenly that she was terrified of diving; she would never do so in her Quidditch games.

Draco felt Lisa's grip on him tighten. "Hmm, can't resist me, can you, Connolly?"

If she weren't sitting behind him, she would've kneed him.

Taking advantage of his position, he rose slightly in the air, then dove down at a very sharp angle.

"You're quite the bastard, you know that?" she asked harshly, although she was used to such dives from Quidditch.

Ron took the gentle, easy-course down with his now ex-girlfriend, and they landed gracefully on the ground. "That wasn't so terrible, was it?"

"I've been through much worse," she said, shuddering, as she closed her eyes. She thought of the day Draco had hit a bludger towards her and knocked her clean off her broom, and could tell that Ron realized what he had provoked.

He stared at her face, before realizing that he was doing so, and shook himself off of it. "I, um... yeah... let's get back inside, shall we?"

Ashling mumbled something indistinctly and followed his motion in. It wasn't until inside that she realized she was shaking violently from the cold and her nose had turned a cute shade of pink.

"Uh, here..." he said, offering her his sweater. "You need it more than I do." He noticed the cute shade of pink her nose had turned due to the weather.

She took it reluctantly, muttering a soft "thank you". She slipped it on (clearly it was far too big) and started down the hallway, looking for the nearest route to the Ravenclaw Common Room.

Draco pulled quickly out of his dive and landed where he had seen Ron and Ashling moments before. He practically jumped off of his broom, then extended his arm to help Lisa off of hers.

She didn't take his hand and slid off easily without it. However, when she almost tripped over herself, she ended up landing right in his arms.

Draco exclaimed when she tripped, and smiled warmly at her when she found herself in his arms. "You alright?" he asked softly.

She looked up, slightly embarrassed. "Yeah..."

He linked arms with her and took his broom in his other hand. He offered to carry her bag for her.

She looked at him oddly. "Maybe you need to be stuck in the tower more often..." she mumbled, although she didn't argue with him when he took her bag.

He reprimanded himself silently for being so obvious. _This is clearly not like a Malfoy...but I'm so in love with her,_ he concluded.

Ashling and Ron were suddenly seen walking rather quickly towards Lisa and Draco.  
"It's Filch!" she squeaked, trying to keep her v oice down. "He's patrolling the Great Hall!"

She nodded. "Quiet, now," she muttered, before pulling them off to an off-to-the-side corridor.

They all leaned against the wall, holding their breath while they heard Filch stomping down the hall, followed by a quiet mewing.

She found herself ridiculously close to Draco-- and liking it?

Ron glanced miserably over at Ashling. _Why can't she just be with me?  
_

It was as if Ash knew just what Ron was thinking; she began to silently cry again, unable to sustain herself. She tried to force half a fist in her mouth.

Draco sighed, noticing that Ashling had started to cry again. He started towards the main corridor again, despite Lisa's protest. Once he had announced Filch's disappearance, they slowly began down towards the Great Hall again.

Lisa wrapped her arm around her sister tightly, and glanced over at Draco.

Ron sighed before departing from the group, not bearing to be around Malfoy or Ashling crying... two things he hated most.

Finally, the group broke up. Ashling turned around and stole one last glance at Ronald before forcing to promise herself that she would stay away from him at all costs.

Draco yelled "good night" after Lisa, after practically skipping down his corridor.

**Chapter 20**

Ashling stirred her pepper-up potion ridiculously slow. She wished she could stay in Potions forever; at least she knew what she was doing here. She didn't even mind too much that Professor Snape was subbing their class. She was still trying to convince herself without luck that she and Ron were over. She glanced over at Lisa, noticing her jumping away from her cauldron...but Ash was too depressed to go fix her potion.

She looked down at their own when Blaise exclaimed that it was changing color; Ashling had stirred far too slowly.

Lisa smirked slightly as Malfoy stirred the ingridents for their Pepper-Up Potion. She hadn't done _anything _yet... not because she was lazy, but because she was feeling particularly rebellious today.

"Aren't you going to do something??" Malfoy barked.

"You want me to do something?" she repeated slyly.

"Yes! You've refused to do absolutely anything all class. What the bloody hell is going on??"

She smirked again. "Okay." She stood up on her stool, watching Professor Snape intently. "Professor, I have to tell you something."

Professor Snape turned around quickly and stared down at Alyssa with a grin. "Ms. Connolly, if you plan on letting me know that lacewing flies are blue, then I might suggest Remedial Potions." The class fell silent. Ashling stopped attending to her potion, her jaw dropping lower and lower. An intense vibe shook over her and she realized what her sister was about to do.

She smirked. "Remedial Potions it is, then Professor. I get to see more of you!" she exclaimed. "However, that wasn't what I wanted to tell you. What I _really _wanted to tell you was--" She cleared her throat. "--It's the song that never ends! Yes it goes on and on my friends! Some people started singing it, not knowing what it was! And they'll just keep on singing it forever just because it's the song that never ends, yes it goes on and on my friends! Some people, started singing it not knowing what it was, and they'll just keep on singing it forever just because--"

"Get down from there!"

"It's the song that never ends---" Although she was joking around, she was surprisingly singing it very well and on-key. Who knew a girl like her could actually sing.

The class was in hysterics. Ashling watched in horror as her sister danced on her stool, jumping up and down. Snape opened his mouth to speak but was cut off by Ash. "LISA! STAI ZITA COSI!" she screamed. Her classmates stared back and forth, from twin to twin. After ten seconds of silence, Professor Snape, who was turning a shade of purple, cleared his throat.

"Ms. Connolly. Get down from there this instant," he fumed.

She shrugged and sat down. "Detention tonight, Professor?"

"What the hell do you think you're doing, Connolly???"

"Having fun. Try it sometime."

"Don't push my buttons, Ms. Connolly." He paused. "Five hundred points from Ravenclaw. See me after class." He glanced around. "Back to your potions," he barked, turning on his heel and walking to his desk in a dark corner of the room.

She started laughing hysterically.

Draco turned white and gawked at Lisa. "What has come over you?!"

She kept laughing.

"Seriously, are you all right? Maybe you should visit Madam Pomfrey or something..."

"I'm _fine,_" she replied. "I'm just tired of being depressed. So I thought I'd shake it up."

"Well, I think I like the practically suicidal you better. Besides, your spirits go up and Ashling's go down. And are you quite sure you haven't smoked anything illegally this morning?"

"Hmm...so _that's _what that was," she said thoughtfully.

Draco's smile vanished. "Don't joke. And what, I pray tell," he added, glancing at their plum-colored potion, "have you done to our poor Pepper-Up potion? Which you'll need none of, by the way."

"I haven't done anything!!"

"Oh, and I suppose our potion is just preparing to turn transparent and bubble vigorously?"

She shook her head. "You've done all the work today, love." She didn't realize what she had just called him.

Draco literally choked and started coughing violently. After a minute of struggling to continue breathing, he finally squeaked, "What?!"

"You've done all the work today. It's not my fault.'

"Right...nevermind...stupid me..." he rambled, his mind running twice as fast than normal.

She shook her head again and smiled at him. Just then, the bell rang, and she gathered up their stuff and put it away, going up to Professor Snape's desk, who was currently subbing for Professor Slughorn. "You wanted to see me, Professor? After class...when everyone is gone... what could you _possibly_ want?" she asked, with a hint of seductiveness brought out.

"Is it about last night? Did I do something wrong?"

Snape turned puce, and Malfoy, who was at their desk, a dark blue. He dropped all of his books and they scattered across the cold dungeon floor.

"Ms. Connolly," Snape said in a rather high tone, "You will have detention this evening at seven o' clock sharp."

She smirked. "Just tonight, Professor? Are you sure that'll be enough for my foolish antics? I mean, I want to spend _so _much time with you! You mean _so _much to me."

"You'll have detention with Professor McGonnagall," he said, ignoring her.

She pouted. "But I don't swing that way, Professor!!"

"Another fifty points from Ravenclaw. Do you wish to continue?"

Alyssa shrugged. "Is that all?"

"Plus another fifty. Get on to your next lesson."

She smiled and skipped out of the dungeons, winking at him before she left. "See you tomorrow, Professor!"

Malfoy stormed out behind her. Once they were out of earshot he threw his bag down the corridor. "WHAT THE BLOODY HELL ARE YOU DOING?!"

"Skipping!" she called.

"I DUNNO WHAT THE FUCK YOU WERE THINKING BUT IT WAS NOT FUNNY!"

"Oh, yes, it was. You just have a really poor sense of humor."

Irritated that she would not stop moving, he finally grabbed her by the shoulders and swung her around and to the wall.

"Aggressive, Malfoy," she said, laughing. "I like that in a bloke."

Malfoy was out of breath from running. Now that he was an inch away from Lisa's face, he tried to slow his breathing. "Could you slow down for one minute?"

"You stopped me from moving," she remarked bluntly.

"Physically," he pointed out. "Just...relax for a second. You just implied in front of our Potions class that you've been sleeping with Snape."

She shrugged. "I don't care what they think."

He pushed a strand of hair away from her face. "Do you care what I think?"

Alyssa bit her lip. "I...I don't know. What _do _you think?"

"I think I'd be a bit devastated if you were sleeping with Snape."

"Do you _really _think that I'd be sleeping with Snape?"

"I don't think any life form has, is or ever will sleep with Snape."

"That still doesn't answer my question."

He sighed. "I do not really think that you are sleeping with Snape," he said monotonously.

"At least you know me, then," she replied, really wanting to kiss him right then.

Draco leaned in and kissed Lisa, who was still cornered against the wall.

She smiled slightly and kissed him back, not really caring that she was still pushed against the wall. They were probably late to their next class, and probably looking like complete fools, but she didn't care.

Draco broke the kiss, realizing how late they were to their next lesson.

"Who cares," she muttered, noticing his look of concern about the lessons. She grabbed him by his tie and kissed him again.

**Chapter 21**

Lisa sat at the Ravenclaw table, trying to keep her eyes off of the Slytherin table, but she knew that it wasn't working too well. She knew that a couple of people had probably seen her glance, grin, and then blush like mad, but she found herself not caring too much. She brushed off Cho's question, and didn't even pay attention when Dumbledore announced that the sign up sheets for staying or leaving would be going around the table, and that they should inform their Head of House (in their case, Professor Flitwick) what they were planning on doing. "Hey, Ash," she began. "We're going back home, right?"

Ashling stared at her plate, not having the least bit of an appetite. She felt empty inside and eating wasn't about to make her feel any better. "Whatever you're doing," she replied monotonously.

Lisa knew that something was wrong with her sister, as she could feel it in her gut, but she decided that it was better to just not ask at this case of depression. So she just nodded, and wrote down on the piece of parchment that had been circling around the Ravenclaws that they would be returning to Italy. And then she was struck with two brilliant ideas:: one that would hopefully get her sister out of this weird funk she was in. "I'll be right back," she told her, before practically jumping up from the table and heading over towards the Gryffindor one, where her sister's ex-boyfriend, Ron Weasley, sat with his two best friends, Harry and Hermione.

Harry and Hermione were laughing hysterically as they watched Seamus try to put out his robes, which were on fire. He had apparently gone wrong with a spell yet again. Ron smiled weakly as he looked on, but his mind was clearly preoccupied.

Harry then noticed Lisa running towards their table. "Hey, Lisa! What can I do you for?" he said enthusiastically.

"Hey Potter," she grinned. "Actually, I have a proposition for you, Ron..."

Ron looked up slowly. "What?" he said flatly.

She sat down in the empty seat next to him and put her arm around him, mainly because she could. "Listen. What are your plans for Christmas break?"

"I dunno. I guess I'll be staying here, mum and dad are visiting Charlie in Bulgaria."

"Well, then you're wrong," she replied, already making his mind up for him. "You're coming with me and my family to Italy."

Ron dropped his spoon. He gaped at her. "Wha--what?!"

"You're coming with me and my family to Italy, where we _live_," she repeated. "I know that you and Ash aren't really on good terms right now, but we're still mates, and I'm inviting you. Plus, I think a change of scenery will be good for both of you, and maybe you'll work out your problems there."

Harry and Hermione, as well as a few Gryffindors, stared at Lisa speechlessly. "...Blimey," was all Ron could think of saying.

But then he remembered how Ashling had given him no explanation whatsoever for leaving him. "I dunno if it'll do any good," he sighed, glancing at the Ravenclaw table where Ashling sat, expressionless.

She sighed heavily. "You give up too easily, mate!" she exclaimed. "You never know. Do you love her?"

He blushed a shade of crimson. "Yes, of course I love her."

"Then trust me, okay, mate?"

"Alright," he said hesitantly. "I guess I'm going to Italy," he added with a smile.

She smiled. "Good. By the way, Malfoy's coming too. He just doesn't know it yet." She stood up and turned to make her way towards the Slytherin table.

Ron's jaw dropped, but Lisa had already left before he could protest.

Over at the Slytherin table, Draco, whom was in an extraordinarily good mood, was playing with his wand, sending small, exotic birds off its tip to the amusement of his friends.

Lisa went from the Gryffindor table to the Slytherin table, not caring about how many stares she was getting from everyone else. She sat down in the, convienantly empty seat next to Draco. "Hey there stranger."

Draco stared at her as if she had three heads. "Erm-- hello. ...What are you doing?" he hissed, glancing quickly at Pansy and Blaise.

"Sitting here. And not caring what everyone's thinking. What are you doing?"

"Eating breakfast, creating new breeds," he replied matter-of-factly, holding up a hand as a tiny bright blue and green bird rested on his fingers.

She rolled her eyes. "Always been the show off. By the way, you're coming to Italy with me."

"WHAT?!" The birds disappeared with a small pop.

"You. Are. Coming. To. Italy. With. Me."

"Bloody hell, Connolly," he said in hushed tones, "sure, I'll send my father an owl right away. 'Hey there, dad. Just wanted to drop you a note: I'm not spending Christmas with you this year, I'll actually be leaving the country to stay with the Connollys. Happy holidays.'"

She rolled her eyes at him again and decided that this wasn't the best place to discuss this, so she stood up, pulled him up with her, and brought him out of the Great Hall. "You know you want to come with me."

"You know I want to come with you too. But honestly, do you really think dear old Lucius will let me?"

"No, and that's half the point," she responded.

"Sure, I'll rebel against one of the most powerful Death Eaters known to man," he said sarcastically. "Do you think he'll ground me?"

"If you really want to come with me, then you'll just _do it. _For Merlin's sake, I thought you loved me."

She had him there. He couldn't talk his way out of this one. "Christ, Lisa," he said, bringing a hand down his face. He stared at her, thinking it over. Finally, he bursted, "All right, obviously I'm coming."

"Good. By the way, Ron's coming too," she replied, kissing him quickly before hurrying off before he could protest or even respond.

**Chapter 22**

"...Which is why Aurors must undergo periodical training," droned Snape. Ashling took notes furiously, it seemed to distract her a bit. She looked up suddenly when she heard a crash; Draco, whom was sitting next to her sister, had fallen backwards from tilting his chair too much.

Draco turned pink and stood up slowly. "Sorry", he muttered, the entire class staring at him.  
"Amusing, Mr. Malfoy," said Snape greasily, among snickers throughout the classroom.

She couldn't help but burst out laughing before leaning over to help him up. "You're such an asshole."

"Ha, ha," he said mockingly as he took her arm and sat back down. "So," he whispered, careful not to catch Snape's attention. "How many more people have you invited on this rendevouz?" he said sarcastically.

"Just you, me, Ron, and my sister."

"Erm-- I thought they were, you know...not...together."

"Oh, they're not."

He started to smile. "What are you up to? Does your sister know?"

"Nope."

"You know she's bound to react almost as violently as the howler I should be getting in the post any day now, right?"

"Oh yes, I'm well aware of that."

"And that she could very easily make a lethal potion for you in less than ten minutes?"

"Yep, that too."

"Alright. It's been nice knowing you."

"Yeah, you too," she replied with a smile, really tempted to just kiss him there. "But trust me, I'll still be alive."

"Say," he said a bit loudly upon remembering something, then sighing in relief when Snape didn't hear him. "Where are we staying? Do your folks know I'm tagging along?"

"Uh... no. And my father will probably kill you, just so that you know. My mother won't care. And we're staying in my _house_, jerk."

Draco paled. "You mean we're just...showing up? Don't you think that's pushing it a bit? I mean going to Italy, that's nice. But just showing up?"

"Oh, no, I'll tell them. I just haven't told them _yet_."

"Alright. Get on that." But he finally eased up and held her hand, smiling.

She smiled back at him, holding his hand underneath the desk, because they were superfuckingcute like that.

Over at Blaise's desk, Ashling, whom was still taking notes furiously, moved her hand too quickly and spilled her ink bottle. Blaise yelled in surprise, and took out his wand to fix it, but Ashling was watching as her parchment became soaked in black ink. Out of nowhere, she burst into tears.

She glanced over at the scene, but knew that Snape would kill her for getting up and moving, and she didn't particularly want to get landed in detention, so she couldn't go over and comfort her sister, as much as she wanted to.

The entire class was staring at Ashling and Snape had stopped talking. She quickly threw her things into her bag and left the classroom without saying a word. Snape stared at her as she made her way towards the door and decided to leave it at that. "As I was saying, the effects of the Cruciato Curse depend on the distance from which..."

She hated seeing her sister so upset, but she hated an angry Professor Snape even more. So she waited until after class before completely ditching Draco and going in search of her sister, but wasn't too sure where to start looking for her. _Some twin I am, _she thought bitterly.

**Chapter 23****  
**

Ashling sat in a stall in Moaning Myrtle's bathroom. She was sobbing uncontrollably, and Myrtle's cries made the situation no better. _Why am I so depressed?_ she asked herself bitterly.  
She took out her wand and stared at it, contemplating its potential power.

She got this weird jolt, and somehow knew that she was in Moaning Myrtle's bathroom. She ran there, ignoring Draco's calls after her, and entered the bathroom. "ASH!??!?"

Ashling cleared her throat and tried to make her crying less evident. "What?" she shouted as clearly as possible from one of the stalls.

"Oh good, you're in here. Come out, will you??"

"No," she said firmly.

"Why not??"

"I don't want to come out, I don't want to be here..." she trailed off.

"Be where?"

"I hate this. I hate the country, I hate the people." She switched over to italian. "I hate the language. We don't belong here, Lisa. What purpose do we serve? Nobody would notice if I were to vanish right now."

"That's ridiculous," she called through the stall door. "I would notice!"

"Alyssa," she started, her voice shaking, "Every time I breathe, it hurts. I-- I want to die."

She sighed, not really knowing what to say. "Ash..."

"I'm sorry you have to put up with this but my mind isn't about to change." She paused. "Please don't tell Ron," she sobbed.

She wished that she could go through the stall door and wrap her arms around her and tell her that everything was going to be alright. "I won't, I promise."

She opened the door and dropped her wand. "Thanks," she said shakily, wiping her tears on her blue Ravenclaw sweater.

She smiled slightly when she opened the door and went over and hugged her tightly.

Ash only started to cry harder, but her mind was a bit less fogged with thoughts of death for the time being.

She just continued to hold her tightly, whispering soothing words to her and smoothing out her long, dark brown hair.

When she had calmed down a bit, she broke the hug and stared at her sister. "You would have done the same thing, right?" she asked her in Italian.

"What??" she asked back in Italian, a little confused.

"Ron," she said impatiently. "Would you have done the same thing to Ron?"

"You mean break up with him?"

"Yes, I was-- I was protecting him," she tried to convince herself.

She sighed. "Um....Ash..."

"What?" she responded, still tearing furiously.

"I, um...have to tell you something."

"If you've gone and gotten yourself preganant with Blaise, I don't know what I'll do," she mused, forcing a laugh.

"No...um...IinvitedRontoItaly."

"What?" she said in English.

"I...invited Ron...to...Italy..."

"You....WHAT?!" she exploded.

"Yeah..." she mumbled.

"Dio mio, what were you thinking?!"

"Um...Change of scenery = good?"

She sat down in the middle of the bathroom, mumbling something that sounded like it oddly ended in "suicide".

"Trust me, Ash, I know what I'm doing..."

"At least one of us does. Honestly, I don't even feel safe around myself anymore..."

She sighed. "You'll be fine, I promise."

She picked up her wand and pocketed it. "I trust you, but I'm telling you...nothing will get Ron and I back together. I can't hurt him, I would die of heartbreak."

She decided not to tell her how he was hurting already. "Alright, Ash. Whatever you say."

**  
****Chapter 24****  
**

Ashling and Lisa dragged their trunks through the hallways of Hogwarts at six in the morning the Saturday before Christmas. They heard distant voices coming from the Entrance Hall and realized it must be Draco and Ron.

Draco went to take Lisa's trunk from her as the girls turned the corner. "Morning," he said with a smile that extended from ear to ear.

"Morning," she grinned back, kissing him slightly.

Ron stood there awkwardly. "Hey, Ash..." he mumbled.

"Hi," she said quietly, pulling her trunk towards the fireplace.

"It'd probably be best if we did this in twos. So, Draco, you can come with me, and Ron can go with Ash."

Draco took a handful of floo powder from a nearby dish and handed it to Ron. He pushed their trunks into the empty fireplace and waited for Lisa to step in. "Ready?"

"Yeah, I'm ready," she replied, stepping in and wrapping her arm around his waist.

Ron sighed and went over next to Ash and waited until Lisa and Malfoy were gone. _This is gonna be awkward..._ "You ready?"

Ashling nodded without a word and struggled to push her trunk towards the once again empty fireplace.

He lifted up her trunk like Malfoy had, and carried it into the fireplace and waited for her.

She blushed slightly and grabbed a handful of powder. Throwing it at their feet, she said loudly some of the first words Ron had heard her say in weeks: "VIA VENETO!"

Ashling stepped lightly out of the fireplace and dusted herself off, pulling her trunk away from Ron. She glanced around the room; everything looked fairly old and made of wood. It smelled wonderfully of apple pie, and she soon found the source of the scent; her mother stood at the other side of the room, offering food to Alyssa and Draco, whom sat on the couch waiting for them.

Ashling immediately dropped her trunk and ran over to her mother, kissing her on the cheek and giving her a tight hug.

Lisa sighed as she sat on the sofa in Draco's arms, rather comfortable for the first time in a long time. She turned to her mother, who was greeting Ashling. "Is Father home?" she questioned, suddenly realizing that he wasn't in the room with them.

"He should be here any minute," said her mother sweetly, running her fingers through her hair. "He took the broom today, no more floo powder. Oh!" she exclaimed, remembering something. "I have cookies in the kitchen!" She ran into the next room.

"Shit," she mumbled. She knew that her father wasn't going to be happy with them having a Malfoy in the house.

Ron stood there rather awkwardly. He knew that Ashling was mad at him -- she'd broken up with him, after all, not the other way around. And he knew that Lisa probably didn't want to be disturbed, so he just stood there. Why did she invite me to come? he asked himself bitterly. All I'm going to do is stand around and feel awkward every day this week.

"Great, Lisa," Ash said to Lisa in Italian. "Wonderful idea. This is going splendidly."

"We only just got here!" she replied back in Italian, smiling brightly. "Lighten up a bit, sis."

"Where's the light? Why should I be here?" she said flatly.

"'Cause you love me. Would you rather be at Hogwarts alone?"

"Yes, it's better than being stuck here with the guys."

"Well, sorry," she said sarcastically, rolling her eyes. "Didn't realize that I needed your permission to invite my boyfriend and try to make things better for you."

"Well, maybe it would've been better if you had left me the hell alone," she said back in English, her voice shaking and tears streaking down her cheeks.

"Ash, what's -- " she began, standing up to go over to wrap her arms around her sister, sensing that what was bothering her was more than just her breaking up with Ron.

"Why do you even bother?" Ron asked scatchingly. "I really don't see why you invited me here." All he wanted to do was go over and hug Ashling and kiss away her problems, but he figured that could only make matters worse. So it took all of his self-control to just stay there.

"There's a guest room upstairs and to the left," she retorted. "I suggest you go there before, A) things get worse, or B) I univite you. Believe it or not, Ronald, I'm trying to make things better at it."

"Well, you're doing simply a smashing job so far," he replied before taking his luggage up to the room that she had suggested earlier.

Ashling looked from Draco to Lisa before leaving the room, staring at her feet as she did so. Draco heard a door click and Ashling shouting locking spells through the door.

Draco gave Alyssa a look of sympathy. "Is she okay?"

She shook her head when she heard the wards go up and she cursed, and looked over hopelessly at him. "I don't know what to do," she muttered, before going over to him and wrapping her arms around him.

Draco took her gratefully into his arms and hugged her tightly. "Give her time to think," he started, but stopped abruptly as her mother walked back into the room.

"Where did everyone go?" she asked her daughter in Italian.

"Rooms," she answered back, shrugging slightly and resting her head on his chest.

Mrs. Connolly was resting the plate of cookies on a small table when the door opened.

"Ciao, Maria. Sai che non incontravo la chiave--" he began, but stopped utter surprise at whom sat before him.

She bit her lip, not really sure if his pause in speech was a good one or not.

"Lisa," he said finally, and gave her daughter a kiss and a hug. "Who's this?" he asked pointlessly.

"Um, well, Daddy..." she began, hugging him back. "He's, um..."

"I'm Draco, sir," he finished, extending his arm.

"Piacere, Draco," he said through gritted teeth and a very fake smile. "To what pleasure do I owe your visit?"

"Um, well... he's going to be staying with us, Daddy..." she began, ready for him to freak out. "I suggest you leave," she muttered to Draco.

"I'll- just, er...be on my way..." he said, escaping the living room.

"He's STAYING with us?!" he shouted. "What were you thinking? Where is your sister?!"

"She's in her room... but, Daddy, listen.... he's really not a bad guy."

"He carries the Malfoy name," he said coldly.

"But that doesn't mean anything!!!"

"His blood has disgraced ours," he added gravely.

"But Daddy -- you can't judge him based on his blood!! I have over the years, and I-- I realize that I've been wrong about him!!"

"Where is your sister?"

"You can't keep avoiding the subject!" she exclaimed in frustration.

"Do not raise your voice with me. Where is your sister?"

"I can raise my voice to whoever the hell I want!!" she protested. "And she's in her room, dammit! Like I told you five seconds ago!"

"And where is Lisa?" he hissed.

"I'm right here!! What are you talking about??"

"You are not my daughter," he replied coldly before retreating to the other side of the house and knocking furiously on Ashling's door. Immediately, a loud lion's roar greeted his angry jabs at the door and caused him to jump about a foot in the air.

From the inside of the room, Ashling screamed, "GO AWAY!"

"Ashling, it's your father," he replied, banging on the door heavily again. "Open the door!!" Maybe she had some idea as to what had happened to his daughter, Lisa. Because she certainly wasn't sitting in the living room.

Ashling quickly wiped her tears, turned off her music and ran as fast as she could to the door. Wishing her red eyes wouldn't look so swollen, she opened the door. "Sorry, Papa," she said softly, hugging her father.

He hugged her back tightly. "It's alright," he murmured softly. "Is everything alright?" He pulled her apart to arms length, staring at her intently. Being her father, he could instantly tell that not everything was completely up to par.

"Of course," she lied blindly.

"Well, I don't believe you," he remarked, leading her towards her four-poster bed and sitting down. "Does this have anything to do with your sister dating a Malfoy?" So what if it was a childhood grudge that had continued into adulthood and had spirited into his family. They were supposed to hate Malfoys -- maybe that was the reason why she seemed so upset.

"No, I don't care what she does. And it was her that invited Ronald here as well, that was not my idea."

"Who?" he asked, although the name sounded slightly familiar.

She stared at her feet, realizing her father was unaware of Ron's presence. "Lisa invited Ronald Weasley to come as well. He's upstairs. I was...good friends with him," she said carefully, as she discussed these matters only with her mother, yet continued when her father gave her an understanding nod, "but him and I are in a fight and I don't care what he does, either."

"Oh," he mumbled, because it was all he could seem to say. "I'm sure that you and Ronald will make up sometime soon. The Weasleys are a good family, Ashling."

"He's not understanding," she said harshly.

"Would you like to tell me what happened?" he questioned softly, although he knew there wasn't really a point. She was as stubborn as her mother was.

"It's not a big deal," she said quietly.

"Are you sure?"

They were interrupted as her mother walked into the room. "Fa caldo, do you guys want to come to the beach? We're all going."

"No," said Ash immediately. "It's late anyway, Mamma."

"That's alright, it's nicer at night."

"Come on, Ashling, you should join us," he encouraged, glancing up at his wife.

"I'll get your bathing suit," her mother said quickly, flicking her wand. It floated into the room a few seconds later. Ashling groaned but took it nonetheless.

He smiled. "We'll let you get dressed," he replied, before lightly touching his wife's back and heading out of their daughters room.

Twenty minutes later, everyone was trekking down the streets of Venice, Mr. and Mrs. Connolly in the front, Lisa and Draco behind them, Ron closely following and Ashling a distance behind them.

Lisa smiled slightly, biting her lip so that she wouldn't give into the temptation of grabbing Draco's hand. She knew that if, Heaven forbid, her father saw anything of that sort, he'd freak out even more than he did before. So she walked quietly along the beach, her barefeet hitting the sand.

Suddenly, Ashling, who had not spoken a word since they left the house, announced, "I'm going to sit behind the rocks," pointing to a wall of rocks against which the ocean's waves were lightly beating.

"Are you sure that's safe?" she questioned, noting how the current got slightly stronger towards the rocks.

"I'll be fine," she muttered, before walking off.

Lisa bit her lip and furrowed her brow.

She stopped walking and turned around. "Lisa!" she called. "Ignore whatever I've said against you in the past." She stared at her for a moment then returned towards the rocks.

She glanced over at Draco. "That doesn't sound... good..." she mumbled.

"She's probably still upset and she's going to think things over," he said soothingly.

"I know, but something just doesn't..."

"Lisa! Draco, Ronald!" her mother called. "Come into the ocean!"

"That's alright, Mama," she replied. "I'd rather stay dry."

Draco frowned at her. "You're not going swimming?"

She shook her head. "No, that's okay."

"Are you trying to tell me that you want to go swimming with my parents?" she questioned, pulling him closer to her when she saw that her parents were distracted by the waves.

Draco grinned. "Now that I think about it," he replied, hugging her, "there's much better things to do..." He kissed her deeply, having waited long enough to be away from prying eyes.

She pulled away from him before he got too into it, and smiled at him. "Good. Because I wanted to talk." Her smile turned into a grin, waiting for his reaction.

He sat down cross-legged in the warm sand, pulling her down with him. Glancing at the sunset, he said enthusiastically, "What is it?"


End file.
